Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.' "And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"   (Luke 18:1-8)

"If, for the Christian, prayer becomes impossible, dead, troublesome, uncertain, ...the sole basic problem is that we do not make the decision to obey, since we do not take the commandment (to pray) seriously, and if that is the case it is because we are not living the faith which has its foundation in Jesus Christ....The absence of prayer and the difficulty of praying are the evidence for the absence of faith....Thus faith in the God of Jesus Christ implies that I take the commandment (to pray) seriously, consequently that it commands me to pray; but much more - since that is the case I can say that no faith is possible without prayer." (Jacques Ellul, "Prayer and Modern Man", pp. 117-118, 1970.)

This book, which I quoted above, is hitting me hard. This is the first book that I have read which has prayer as the primary topic. I have read many, many books in my journey as a Christian, but none specifically on prayer. Why, you may ask? As a Christian, you pray, don't you? Well, maybe, but...For many years my prayers would be memorized rote prayers. Having grown up Roman Catholic, I would pray an "Our Father", a "Hail Mary", an Act of Contrition at bedtime. Gradually, this practice waned. It seemed to me that quickly repeating these memorized prayers was so mechanical, so thoughtless, that they couldn't really matter.

Sometime afterward, I would just consider myself talking to God, as it were. It was a rather one-sided conversation, of course. No one in their right mind would ever admit to getting a reply...In latter years I have even questioned this practice. It seemed to me that the traditional argument against prayer was true. If God is all-powerful and all-knowing, my prayers were superfluous. God already knows what's going on and what needs to be done, he doesn't need me to tell him, so this side of the argument goes. On the other hand, if God is not all-powerful and all-knowing, if God can be influenced and convinced to change his mind, that perhaps he's made an error in judgment or didn't see another side of the issue, then he's not really God after all. The argument seemed fair. After a shrug of the shoulders and a sense of resignation, just go on with your business.

Since that time, I have gone back and forth. One minute I'm talking to God about what's on my mind, what I think is wrong with the world, why I don't think it's right to ask for my team to win a game anymore (even though it would be nice), and the next minute saying, "What's the use?" Maybe double predestination was the right way to think about our existence after all. But yet I don't feel that way. I don't believe we're just pawns being pushed around on a giant cosmic chess board. I believe we have freedom to choose or reject good and evil. But do I really believe in prayer? Does it matter?

Then along comes Jacques Ellul to say, "Yes! It does matter! Either you are a man of prayer or you are not a person of faith." Why does he say this? As he explains elsewhere in the book, prayer is the ultimate subversive act. It is the ultimate rejection of the "common sense" of the world for the absurdity of trust in the unseen, in fact faith in the One who cannot be seen, but can be known through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus could tell us to pray because he had faith in God his Father to hear his prayer. He tells us that as followers of his, that God will have regard for our prayers as well. He knows what we need.

We must reject the wisdom of the world and pray despite the seeming ridiculousness of it. We must pray because the "traditional" arguments against prayer don't take into account that our God is a living God, a God who does enter into a personal relationship with us, a God who was willing to come down and take on flesh to show his love for us. Our God is not the god of the Deists, a distant and unemotional "Prime Mover". Ellul refers to prayer as "combat". Combat against the world, doubt, and indeed ourselves. So be it. Fight if you have to when you pray, but pray! Abraham fought in prayer, as did Moses, the prophets, Jesus, and Paul. Prayer is never nice and neat, pretty and pleasant. It can be painful and gut-wrenching. But it must be. Faith demands it. When the Son of Man comes, will he find us still praying?

Father, how difficult it is for me to pray. The flesh hates prayer. The world hates prayer. Foolishness! Exactly! Your way is foolishness to the world! So be it. "I believe. Help my unbelief."   (Mark 9:24b)

Contributed by David
Published Sunday October 14, 2007
Week 46 of Liturgical Year C