Prayer Requests

Published on July 26, 2004 By Gideon MacLeish In Misc

The recent JU drama has brought out the cynic in many bloggers, myself included. While I have been quite busy, I quickly was drawn in by allusions to the drama, then backtracked until I found out what it was all about. It will not be rehashed here. This is not what this blog is about.

The whole thing set me to thinking about the nature of prayer requests. If we send out a prayer request and the object of our prayers turns out to be fictional, what have we lost? It's not as though we have a finite number of prayer requests and this brings us one prayer closer to being used up (as to the hurt feelings, etc...again, that's not what this thread is about).

If we refuse to pray because of one or two "bad apples", what does that truly say about our hearts? Are we so hard hearted that we will allow ourselves to be pulled away from praying for these individuals simply because they may or may not exist?

On that note, I am making the following resolution: If a prayer request is given and I see it, I will pray. I don't care if it's just for blue shoelaces for your Skechers, I will pray. Fictional characters? Yup, I'm still praying for them. I would rather take the risk of praying for a figment of someone's imagination than of not praying for a real need. God knows, we've had our own needs as of late, and are thankful for all of the prayers.

just my two cents

signing off,

Gideon MacLeish

Comments

Qohelet

on Jul 28, 2004

Bravo Gideon, I am a new user, blogger, whatever, I am not sure on the propper lingo, but you are headed in the right direction. I am not famiiar with the fictional prayer requets to which you are referring. Your right, we don't have a limited number of prayers to offer to God or a limited number of prayer requests to make. The great thing about prayer is the object of our prayers. As we pray we are drawn closer in relationship to God and that is the real beauty of praying.

Shulamite

on Jul 28, 2004

The prayers of the righteous avail much... Prayer is so important! and what an amazing resource we have at our fingertips! It not only gives us direct communication with our Creator, but it allows us to build a relationship with Him AND to receive direction and information, comfort and assurance from Him! We know as we draw near to God He will draw near to us...

Gideon, I think you'd make your name sake proud. (I always laugh at the thought of a hiding man being called a brave and mighty warrior by an angel... God knows us better than ourselves, eh?)

Kudos on the resolution. Visit my site to drop in a prayer request when you need one... I'll pay attention to that and pray as needed as well...

Kayles

on Jul 28, 2004

Good article! Gideon, although I was very upset by the deceit that took place, I have no intentions to stop praying. Not only that, I don't regret the prayers that were prayed for the "fake" baby. I prayed for the welfare of all involved. So, in my opinion, there is no such thing as a wasted prayer.

BTW, I am still praying for your family. I wish you all the best.

Abe Cubbage

on Jul 31, 2004

I know this is off topic but I am genuinely curious. What good does it do to pray for someone?

bakerstreet

on Jul 31, 2004

I agree with ya. I think part of the angst, though, was that it dredged up a lot of pain for those who had been through the same thing and sympathized, only to find out the reminiscence was for naught. =/ ...

Gideon MacLeish

on Jul 31, 2004

I know this is off topic but I am genuinely curious. What good does it do to pray for someone?

Abe,

Well, this is an interesting question.

I COULD point you to a number of medical studies that give pretty compelling evidence that in many cases, individuals being prayed for have substantially faster heal rates. I could, but I did not post this to debate the merits of prayer. I posted it to state my position.

I could also answer this by saying it's an issue of faith, and you kind of have to possess faith to understand it. But again that is not the point off this thread.

To that end, I will, however, ask why you were compelled to post on a forum entitled "Prayer Requests" if you don't believe in the power of prayer.

Forgive me on this one, abe, but my patience is rather low and I'm working on limited sleep here. There is a time and place for such debates, but this isn't it. I hope you understand.

mignuna

on Jul 31, 2004

gideon, i'm not sure what incident you refer to, but no matter, i don't think i need to know

.

i recall your blog in which your unborn child was at some risk, and i jumped right in to wish you strength in your pain and to tell you that your family were in my thoughts. i did this even though some months ago i went out of my way to comfort a blogger who said she was "suicidal". i left a huge comment for her, my real life contact details, the whole palaver ... only to find a cheery post from her the next day about the cool night she'd had at a disco.

i was mortified !. but it still won't stop me from reaching out a hand next time. and, as in your case, most good wishes are genuinely needed and appreciated.

mig XX

Abe Cubbage

on Jul 31, 2004

Thanks for your response Gideon and I can understand how such a question could be exasperating and perhaps even be percieved as insulting. I am asking because I really am curious what the reasons are for praying for someone. I am afraid I can't address the situation without coming off as insulting, so please understand that is no my intent. Now I am going to be blunt because that is quick and easy, feel free to reply in a similar manner.

You mention that people who are prayed for have faster heal rates. For the sake of argument let's say that this is true. Isn't "praying for someone" asking God to favor one person over another? Doesn't this situation strike you as wrong somehow?

"To that end, I will, however, ask why you were compelled to post on a forum entitled "Prayer Requests" if you don't believe in the power of prayer."

How else will I understand questions of faith unless I ask people who have faith?

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 02, 2004

It's not a matter of praying to manipulate God; if He were there to be manipulated (the "cosmic vending machine" theology that many teach), then faithful Christians would have no sick or dying family members. This is clearly not the case.

Prayer has many purposes, not the least of which is to alleviate the worries of the petitioner. If, by recognizing a problem is out of our control and surrendering it to a divine authority, it can free our minds to concentrate on the things we CAN control; it has done some good if it accomplishes nothing else. It is also a way of expressing solidarity between believers; there's an intense closeness that can be felt between faith communities that are spread out between many miles.

Put simply, prayer means many different things to people. It's a complex matter and not as simple as asking God to favor one person over another. There are many who pray for ALL the hungry, ALL the starving, and I believe that is as it should be. Then there are people who use prayer as an excuse to avoid the actions they could take to actually assist in ending these problems locally, but that's another blog entirely.

I don't know if I can express it in a way that you can fully comprehend. But I do hope this gives you some insight.

How else will I understand questions of faith unless I ask people who have faith?

You're absolutely right. I suppose I get defensive because a lot of people asking these questions aren't asking out of sincerity, but rather out of cynicism. I apologize for my response; frankly, I haven't been as "on the ball" lately as I'd like. I hope my response on this post helps a tad.

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