Praying with Doubt
Read James 5: 13-18
Praying is never easy for me. Often, I have to overcome a reluctance to pray. Some of the reluctance comes from making time to pray. Some of the reluctance comes from sadness that stems from praying for people who are sick, dying, or in terrible personal situations. But today I realized that a lot of my reluctance to pray comes from doubt. It’s doubt that my praying will do any good. I can think of so many horrendous examples of where I’m sure people prayed for deliverance from terrible circumstances. A prime example is the Holocaust. I’m certain that many, if not most, of the Jewish people in the concentration camps prayed for a merciful escape from the horrors that they suffered. Yet six million didn’t escape. And there are numerous additional examples large and small.
The Bible, in the words of not only Christ, but St. Paul and many others, tells us to pray without ceasing. We are to go into our rooms and pray behind closed doors so as not to make a public show of our praying. We are told that our heavenly Father will hear us anyway. So, how do I reconcile the disconnect between negative outcomes and my petitions in prayer?
The answer is, I don’t. Today I realized the error in my thinking about prayer and the outcomes of prayer. The outcomes of my petitions are not up to me. Somehow, I got into my head that my prayers are the vehicle that cures people of disease, comforts the dying and causes the positive outcomes I pray for. I realized the outcomes are strictly up to God. I may be aware of what people need in my prayers. But only God knows for sure and I need to leave the burden of outcomes up to God.
Mike Bernhardt
Read James 5: 13-18
Praying is never easy for me. Often, I have to overcome a reluctance to pray. Some of the reluctance comes from making time to pray. Some of the reluctance comes from sadness that stems from praying for people who are sick, dying, or in terrible personal situations. But today I realized that a lot of my reluctance to pray comes from doubt. It’s doubt that my praying will do any good. I can think of so many horrendous examples of where I’m sure people prayed for deliverance from terrible circumstances. A prime example is the Holocaust. I’m certain that many, if not most, of the Jewish people in the concentration camps prayed for a merciful escape from the horrors that they suffered. Yet six million didn’t escape. And there are numerous additional examples large and small.
The Bible, in the words of not only Christ, but St. Paul and many others, tells us to pray without ceasing. We are to go into our rooms and pray behind closed doors so as not to make a public show of our praying. We are told that our heavenly Father will hear us anyway. So, how do I reconcile the disconnect between negative outcomes and my petitions in prayer?
The answer is, I don’t. Today I realized the error in my thinking about prayer and the outcomes of prayer. The outcomes of my petitions are not up to me. Somehow, I got into my head that my prayers are the vehicle that cures people of disease, comforts the dying and causes the positive outcomes I pray for. I realized the outcomes are strictly up to God. I may be aware of what people need in my prayers. But only God knows for sure and I need to leave the burden of outcomes up to God.
Mike Bernhardt
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