I had some interesting comments from one of my students. I had written down that in our interactions with people of other faiths there are times when prayer may be an inadequate, or wrong, tool.
I am not sure that this student was arguing that prayer may, in and of itself, be inadequate. He was certainly wondering whether prayer is ever wrong.
Good question. Good point.
On reflection of things, I am first drawn to James 2:15-17.
15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
James 2:15-17 (NIV)
I could be wrong, but when looking at verse 16, I see the statement “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed” not as a command, or a personal reflection, but as blessing— or a prayer. It suggests that prayer is certainly not wrong, but inadequate. Why? Frankly, because God tends to answer prayers through His people. To pray and walk away is almost like playing children’s games such as “hot potato” or “old maid” (“I don’t want it, you take it.”).
The Christian life is a life of prayer, but also a life of action. The Bible DOES NOT SAY:
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you PRAYED I WOULD BE FED, I was thirsty and you PRAYED I WOULD HAVE DRINK, I was a stranger and you PRAYED SOMEONE WOULD INVITE YOU IN, 36 I needed clothes and you PRAYED I WOULD HAVE CLOTHES, I was sick and you PRAYED SOMEONE WOULD CARE FOR YOU, I was in prison and you PRAYED SOMEONE WOULD VISIT YOU.’
A messed version of Matthew 25:34-36. Read the NIV version for the correct form.
We are called to act, not just pray. A similar thing can be drawn from the Parable of the Good Samaritan. One can imagine that the priest and the Levite prayed for the injured man. However, their physical action was to pass him by uncared for. In fact it might even be probable that the person may pray in that circumstance. However, in the parable, whether or not the men prayed appears to be irrelevant. What is important is that they turned away and left the man in his plight. And since the parable is showing in a particular circumstance what obedience to the Great Commandment looks like, clearly prayer alone was disobedience to the Great Commandment.
But does any of this imply that prayer is a WRONG tool. Should the priest or Levite NOT pray? Should the person in James NOT pray? I don’t think so. I think prayer is always good, as far as I can see.
HOWEVER, let’s consider a different spin. Suppose that the Levite or priest said to himself, “I don’t want to help this person, but perhaps I must. But wait! Instead of checking on him and caring for him, I can pray for him. Problem solved!” In that case, prayer is used to justify not helping in a tangible way.
Putting this all together, I don’t think prayer is ever the wrong tool. However, I believe the following statements are correct.
Sometimes Prayer is an inadequate tool.
Sometimes Prayer is a tool used wrong.
