Is Prayer Like a Hair Ball?
In the book Huckleberry Finn by Mark
Twain, the slave, Jim, uses a hairball from the stomach of an ox
to find out what Huckleberry’s father is going to do. The
information from the hairball goes like this:
. . . Yo’ ole father doan’ know, yit, what he’s a-gwyne to do.
Sometimes he spec’ he’ll go ‘way, en den agin he spec he’ll
stay. De bes’ way is to res’ easy en let de ole man take his own
way
This kind of mumbo-jumbo is typical of fortune-telling. It is so
self-contradictory that it is confusing, and it is so general
that it is useless.
From time to time I hear people talking about praying for a sign
from God so they can know what to do with their lives. The
problem is that praying for signs is like the hairball, it is
contradictory, confusing, and useless.
Recently a man came to see me. He had been praying for a sign.
He had asked God for a sign about whether he should continue to
pursue a relationship with a certain woman or move on to a
relationship with someone else. He thought God had given him a
sign to move on, but when he did move on to someone else, that
new relationship didn’t work out. So, in tears, he asked me,
“Why would God give me a sign to move into a relationship that
was a dead-end?” He explained he was looking so hard for
direction from God that he saw possible divine signs in
billboards he saw, the things he read in the newspaper, etc.
Look at how confused this poor man was. In great confidence, he
thought God would guide him in what to do. Instead, as he tried
to follow these things he perceived as ‘signs’ he became so
confused he didn’t know what to do. God is not the author of
confusion (1 Cor 14:33). This is clear proof that these ‘signs’
are not from God. In fact, this man’s experience is a perfect
illustration of some of the problems with trying to seek signs
in daily occurrences:
1. How do you tell what is a sign and what isn’t? I do not deny
that God works to provide for us here in this world, and every
good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17). But there are
many forces at work in our world: God, Satan, the free will of
our fellow men, natural law, and time and chance (Ecclesiastes
9:11). So with all these forces at work, how do we know what
things are a sign from God? In point of fact, if God made his
work so plain that it obviously contravened natural law and
stood out as a sign, that would be a miracle. But miracles have
ceased (1 Cor 13:8-10). If it is simply God’s hand working in a
special providential way, then we cannot with certainty identify
it. Mordecai said ‘who knows’ to Esther (Esther 4:14). Paul said
‘perhaps’ to Philemon (Philemon 15). If we can’t tell it’s a
sign, it can’t be a sign.
2. If these things are ‘signs’ how do we know how to interpret
them? How do we know what direction they are leading us? If it
starts to rain when I go to play golf, is God telling me not to
play or is he teaching me to persevere even in the rain?
3. The idea of ‘signs’ produces unnecessary guilt. A woman with
physical limitations once told me that she prayed that God would
not let her have a certain job if she could not handle that job.
The job was offered, so she took it for a sign that God thought
she could handle the physical labor. When she found out she
couldn’t keep up with the demands of the job she had two
choices. Either God was wrong, which she wouldn’t believe, or
she was able to do the job but just didn’t have enough faith or
commitment or something like that. This guilt is unfair. The
pattern of God’s word does not demand that we take a specific
job. This means that it is up to us where we want to work as
long as it is a righteous endeavor. Where we work is a matter of
our free-will, not a matter of signs from God.
4. The longing for signs indicates that we don’t believe God’s
word is enough for us. Since it is able to equip us for every
good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17) there is nothing good that signs
can do for us that God’s word cannot.
5. The following of ‘signs’ often leads people to violate what
God’s word reveals. The man who was looking for signs about
whether or not to stay in a relationship with his girlfriend had
been divorced and had no right to remarry anyone except his
ex-wife. Instead of looking for signs, he should have followed
the guidance revealed in God’s word.
It is demeaning to reduce prayer to the effectiveness of a
hairball. It is laughable to think that God wants to communicate
with us but cannot do it in a decisive and clear way.
Family
Bulletin Board
Remember in prayer and with cards,
phone calls, or visits those who have chronic illnesses: Delsie
Bishop, Reva Brewer, Ella Brumitt, Jamie Farmer, Francis Ferren,
Elizabeth Fowler, Savannah Green, Lola Mae Hamlett, and Louise
Hunt.
TODAY - Baby shower, here, at 4:30pm.
- EYG meeting, also here at at 4:30pm.
THIS WEEK - Pancake breakfast at Mark & Lisa Reed’s home
this Saturday. The griddle will be hot from 8:00-10:00am. Sign
up now!!
NEXT WEEK - Bible Camp for kids 8 - 18. The dates are the
16th - 20th. Hope your applications are in!
NEXT MONTH - Vacation Bible School, July 21st -25th.
We hope you will plan to be here. Also, begin telling your
friends about it now
DIRECTORY updates will be printed soon. See Laura Stark
if you know of changes that should be made.
PRAYER REQUESTS - Tom Pillow continues radiation. Betty
Beatty is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.
