“Really?”, I said. “I find this weird considering you just spent 50 tweets or so telling me God definitely did not exist.”
He responded, “Oh God could exist. But I know for a fact the God of the Bible does not. He is demonstrably false.” At this point I am really intrigued to hear what he has to say because most atheists are too cowardly to go this far with a claim against God. I asked him to give me his strongest piece of evidence that the God of the Bible does not exist. Here is his tweet verbatim, “The failure of prayer would be one. Its been properly tested, it never works. YHWHs existence is predicated on the Bible being true.”
In his own words this is the best evidence that he can think of for the Bible not being true, and thus, God not existing. Immediately looking at this tweet there is a huge problem. What is the criteria that can be used to know if a prayer fails or succeeds? You see, Christians believe that God is sovereign. In other words, we believe that what God wants to do, He will do. This is why we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.” So I asked him, “When you say it never works, what do you mean by ‘works’. In order to know if a prayer ‘worked’ or not, wouldn’t you have to know the will of God?”
He responded, “If God’s will determines the outcome of prayer it definitely doesn’t work. He would do it anyway! The Bible says it works. It doesn’t. John 14:14 says it all.”
John 14:14 records Jesus as saying the following: If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
The meaning of this verse hinges on the phrase, “in my name”. Are these just magic words that Jesus is claiming will get you whatever you ask for? I pray for a million dollars, in Jesus name I pray. Ala-Kazaam! That’s one way to look at it. But that would mean Jesus is advocating sorcery.
No. “In my name”, is not a magic phrase. To pray “in Jesus’ name”, means that you are praying according to his will, or praying for the things that He would pray for. How do I know this? Because Jesus says other things about prayer. For example, the prayer I quoted above about “thy will be done,” is actually something else Jesus said when he was teaching the disciples, and us, how we are to pray. (Matthew 6, The Lord’s Prayer) There is no scripture that obligates God to answer prayer according to our will. That is bad theology. God is only obligated to answer prayer according to His own will. We are required to pray that his will be done. Jesus gave us another example of this while praying in Gethsemane, desiring to not have to go to the cross, but desiring even more that God’s perfect will be done:
My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. – Matthew 26:39
God does not give us everything that we ask for in prayer. As far as I am concerned, praise God that he does not. I think of some of my prayers back when I was in junior high school...even some now. If I would’ve got what I asked for...lets just say it would not have been the best thing for me. Remember friends, when it comes to people, God is not primarily interested in their temporary personal comfort here on earth. He is primarily interested in the eternal condition of their souls.
So what then is point of prayer? Prayer is an act of worship. Talking with God is a way of showing reverence to the One who had the idea to create you. It is an absolutely necessary way for us to cultivate the only relationship that has the power to sustain through eternity.
God is not a vending machine. Prayer is not equivalent to shoving a few quarters in to make your selection. God’s will, will be done on Earth as surely as the sun rises in the east. Still, the Bible makes it clear that God wants you to talk with him.
We get to talk to the God who created the entire Universe. We get to participate in His plan through prayer. Can you think of a more special thing than that?
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