Article May 14, 2007 Issue

TRUE PRAYER—living it beyond the words

BY TIMOTHY A. MACDONALD

AS MORE AND MORE people feel the need of trusting in something higher than themselves, it's not unusual for them to seek, both individually and collectively, God's guidance and help on a daily basis. Such requests are deeply rooted in the teachings of both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Patriarch, judge, king, prophet, and disciple all sought a closeness to God, especially in times of danger. Most often, this sincere communion is in the form of asking God for something—freedom from sickness or disease, health for a loved one, success in one's endeavors, victory over an adversary.

But what are we to think when such sincere requests appear to be answered in a random fashion or not at all? Does that mean God hears only certain petitions or loves some of His children more than others? Does it mean that sickness, sin, and death are instruments by which God instructs His children, and that He sets these instruments aside only when certain conditions are met? Does it mean that living our prayers in the whole round of human life is impractical, or even impossible?

If we look at the whole of the Bible as the progressive revealing of God's nature, then certainly His allness and goodness stand out as major conclusions of this revelation. The culminating appearances of this allness and goodness are found in the healings of Christ Jesus. They show conclusively that God neither created sin, sickness, nor death nor allows them to exist as additions to His creation, for Jesus would not have gone against his Father's wishes by healing such evils if they were part of God's plan.