CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 847

“Fatalistic Christians”

Luke 18:1-8 (ESV) And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.  He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man.  And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’  For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ‘…because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.'” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says.  And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night?  Will he delay long over them?  I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily…”

—————————————————————————————-

One of my pet peeves is the conversation ending word ‘whatever’.  People use ‘whatever’ to express apathy.  They use it to end a debate when they realize the error of their point of view. This tendency to give up can lead to a fatalistic, ‘laissez-faire’ attitude in our dealings with children, spouses, employers, and government.  This approach is spiritually destructive when it is carried into our relationship with God.  Sometimes God seems slow to answer prayer no matter how much we have sought Him on the matter.  The temptation of our flesh is to give up and say ‘whatever’ and stop praying about it.  Jesus knew our tendency to give up which is why He taught the parable of the persistent widow.  A good example to take note of is Abraham’s interaction with the pre-incarnate Christ regarding Sodom and Gomorrah: So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord.  Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? – Genesis 18:22

God’s sovereign will was to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and He did just that.  If Abraham had just said ‘whatever’ when God told him what He was about to do, God would have most likely still spared Lot and his family.  The point is that through the repeated intercessory interaction between Abraham and Jesus, Abraham’s relationship and faith were strengthened.  We see this principle again when God told Hezekiah that he was about to die.  Hezekiah repented and prayed and God gave him fifteen more years.  God’s sovereign will was still accomplished and Hezekiah’s relationship with Him was strengthened through it as is ours who read about it today.

God is sovereign.  “You are the Lord, you alone.  You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; – Nehemiah 9:6  God is in control.  In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will… – Ephesians 1:11

God’s sovereignty and control is never an excuse for us to adopt a fatalistic, whatever attitude which gives rise to apathy and inaction.  Fatalistic Christians don’t bother to vote or get involved and petition their government.  They do not share the Gospel with the lost and they give up on persisting in prayer when God does not answer right away or in their preconceived manner.  A proper Biblical understanding of God’s sovereignty and control should spur us into action and prayer.  God is the opposite of the unrighteous judge in Jesus’ parable.  He desires a close relationship with His children and in His steadfast love He works all things for our good.  Never cease to approach Him as His children confident in His love, goodness, and mercy.