Prayer Is Not a Placebo

Last updated on: June 20, 2016 at 11:56 am by G. Shane Morris

Prayer Is Not a Placebo 2016-06-20T11:56:47-04:00 G. Shane Morris

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It’s become an all-too-common trope, especially in my own Reformed circles, to say that “the purpose of prayer is to change us, not God.”

I really dislike this statement. On one level, it’s true, of course. We can change, and God does not. He is immutable. But on another level, it’s unscriptural nonsense. Prayer is not some psychotropic therapy we perform to make ourselves feel better. It is not a placebo. It really serves a purpose. It is the conversation of children with their Father (Romans 8:15), a bride with her Groom (Ephesians 5:22-33), and priests with their God (1 Peter 2:9). The Bible is abundantly clear that prayer “avails much” (James 5:16), that God will give us what we ask for in His name (John 14:13-14), and that if we don’t ask, we shouldn’t expect to receive (James 4:2-3). Jesus compares God’s role in prayer to that of a loving Father, delighted to give His children what they ask (Luke 11:11-13). Jesus, Who is God in human flesh, constantly lifted up thanks and petitions to His Father, even asking for something which He knew to be contrary to God’s ordained will (Luke 22:42). And when asked to teach them how to pray, Jesus gave the disciples a prayer filled with petitions for God’s kingdom to come on earth, for bodily provision, for forgiveness, and protection from temptation. (Matthew 6:5-15).

Ejsmond_The_Anchorite In the Old Testament, God is portrayed as responding to prayer and even changing His mind (Genesis 18:24-32, Exodus 32:14, 2 Samuel 24:16). While we know by comparing these passages with others (Numbers 23:19, James 1:17), that God does not truly change, but rather uses anthropomorphic language in His dealings with man, these don’t mean that, in a conditional sense, prayer does not change things. It does. It was prayer that saved Nineveh (Jonah 3:10), prayer that caused Jesus to become incarnate in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:38), prayer that freed Peter from prison (Acts 12:5-17), and prayer that expresses the faith which unites us to Christ, and changes our eternal fate (1 John 1:9, Luke 18:13, Romans 10:9, Acts 16:25-40). Indeed, when we pray, we’re told that God the Spirit joins us and makes up for the deficiencies in our prayers with “groans that cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26-27).

So does prayer change us, or does it change God? That’s the wrong question, and it betrays a stunted view of God’s sovereignty. God, knowing all because He ordains all, does not change through prayer. Instead, He has appointed prayer as a means through which we can participate in His work. He has decreed that certain things will happen. And the prayers of His people are the means through which He has decreed they will happen. Pitting prayer against God is like pitting the Bible against God. Does God need the Bible to save someone? Of course not. But it is the means by which He has chosen to save. When a condemned sinner cries out to Heaven for mercy, he does not change God’s plan his life. He brings that plan to fruition. When the High Priest intercedes and sacrifices for the people, He really does, in the rawest sense, turn away God’s wrath. But don’t forget: the High Priest and the Altar are all there by God’s instruction.

The answer, then, is this: prayer changes us, yes. But that’s not primarily why we pray. We pray because God is so sovereign that He has invited us to enter into His counsels and participate in working out His unchangeable plan.

Image: Ejsmond The Anchorite, Wikimedia Commons

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