While reading some comments on social media concerning prayer, I’ve found that too many of my fellow believers and non-believers have sorely lost sight of the function of prayer.
You don’t have to hear a prayer to become the solution. If you simply lack the inspiration, pray. You may find the answer in becoming the answer. The power of prayer doesn’t lie in mysticism nor should the power of prayer be dismissed with cynicism. The power of prayer lies within our agency when we use and create technologies that empower us to act.
Before discussing prayer, I’d like to address agency. In Mormonism, agency is “…the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves. Agency is essential in the plan of salvation.”
We are
granted agency to act as autonomous individuals. Agency allows us to govern
ourselves and allows for optimal growth and development in our endeavors to
become compassionate creators. With agency also comes the risk of suffering.
2 Nephi 2:27
reads, “Wherefore,
men are free according to their flesh; and all things are given them which are
expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life,
through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death,
according to the captivity and power of the devil for he seeketh that all men
might be miserable like unto himself.”
Along with
articulating the risks and rewards of agency, Nephi offers a warning that Satan
desires us to be miserable. As the narrative goes, “One primary issue in the
conflict between God and Satan is agency. Agency is a precious gift from God;
it is essential to His plan for His children. In Satan’s rebellion against God,
Satan “sought to destroy the agency of man” (Moses 4:3). He said: “I will redeem all
mankind, that one soul shall not be lost,” (Moses 4:1).
Accordingly,
God will not intervene on humanity’s agency as it would be in direct conflict
with the purpose of our existence. Intervention was Satan’s plan—the plan of
misery. If one believes that God is in control then God has relinquished that
power in allowing us ultimate governance and stewardship.
For the
Strength of the Youth manual speaks on agency and accountability, “You
are responsible for the choices you make. […] While you are free to choose your
course of action, you are not free to choose the consequences. Whether for good
or bad, consequences follow as a natural result of the choices you make.
Righteous choices lead to lasting happiness and eternal life.”
As
autonomous agents we are at risk for grand consequences—positive and negative
consequences that we cannot escape. If we decide to build weapons of mass
destruction to annihilate each other, God will not, and has not, intervene on
our agency. We will kill each other.
We may find ourselves asking, why would any loving God allow so much suffering,
pain, and death in this world? Why do children painfully starve to death? Why
does cancer have to exist? What about racism, slavery, sexism, heterosexism,
violence, war, global warming, or terrorism? Doesn’t God here our prayers?
Suffering is
as inescapable a consequence when each of us is endowed with the power of
agency. We can use that power to create
or destroy. When we hurt and destroy, when we are idle and useless, when we are
apathetic and careless, we will suffer, as will those around us.
In Nephi we
read, “there
is an opposition in all things”. Can we ever experience joy without
sadness? Can we know peace without anger? Can we feel strength without
weakness? One without the other becomes meaningless. This life is full of
undeniable opposition. However, God doesn’t intervene and stop our suffering
anymore that God would intervene and stop our joy. To intervene would be to
hinder our evolutionary progress.
What a
terrifying, yet beautifully empowering idea to comprehend ourselves as
individual agents. We are responsible and accountable not just for ourselves,
but for one another through the consequences of agency. We are our brother’s
keeper.
But some of
you may ask yourselves, what is the point of prayer if God won’t intervene? Is
prayer useful even if we omit God from the equation?
Prayer is
practical and useful when carried out with real intent. I must admit, I
recently commented to one of my atheist friends that even in times when I have
been apathetic toward the existence of God, I have continued the ritual of
prayer. There are simply far too many benefits, even if I am the only one
hearing them. One benefit of prayer is the verbal expression of gratitude. As
Paul noted to the Colossians, “Continue in prayer,
and watch in the same with thanksgiving.” Prayer is a time to reflect on
the grand and vast abundance of life in the spirit of appreciation. Even if you
are disinclined to acknowledge God, the daily ritual of prayerful gratitude can
increase your mental health and well-being.
Prayer is
also a ritual of empathy that causes us to reflect on how to better improve
humanity by receiving inspiration when pondering the concerns and needs of
others. When we pray and meditate, our minds can access inspired opportunities
to serve one another.
Moroni 7: 9
states, “And likewise also is it counted evil unto man, if he shall pray and
not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God
receiveth none such.” But what does Moroni mean when he says to pray “with real
intent”?
To
understand prayer with “real intent”, I am reminded of the words of Dieter F.
Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “When
our wagon gets stuck in the mud, God is much more likely to assist the man who
gets out to push than the man who merely raises his voice in prayer—no matter
how eloquent the oration.” We should
not pray and passively wait. We should pray and get to work. When prayers are
said with genuine intent, our works will reflect our intentions. Our prayers
are far more valuable and effective when coupled with action.
Unfortunately,
prayer can be mistakenly used as an idle stool people passively sit upon while
waiting for God’s interventions. If you are praying in repetitious vanity for
supernatural answers then you are sorely misinterpreting the function of
prayer. We cannot insensibly pray and expect God to do the work when we are
endowed with the power of agency. I’m inclined to believe that “the power of our prayers
depends on us”.
Too many
make the mistake of waiting on God to answer our prayers when surely it is God
who is waiting on us!
I deeply
value the influence of prayer in my life as an expression of gratitude,
recognition of empathy, and ritual of inspiration.
My husband
and I encountered
many difficulties in having our three children. During the pregnancy of our
daughter, I was faced with life-threatening risks. A couple of weeks before my
scheduled c-section, I prayed with a genuine desire that my daughter and I would
survive. I wanted nothing more than to be her mother.
Coupled with
my prayer were my efforts. I researched the risks of my pregnancy, equipped
myself with the best available physicians, and took advantage of latest medical
technologies—which, I’ll admit, were a product of my affluent privilege. But
even with my works and privilege I was still unable to safely deliver my baby
alone.
The answer
to my prayer came in the form of compassionate physicians, technologists, and
specialists. They not only saved my daughter, but they saved me. God did not
compel these people to be saviors. God did not part the skies and safely rest
my daughter in my arms. No, humanity, God’s children, took it upon themselves
to use their agency to be the body
of Christ. They became the answers to prayers they had never heard.
How many
times in your life have you had another person be an answer to a humble prayer
or desire in your heart? Perhaps it was a parent or a friend? Perhaps it was a
spiritual leader or a teacher? Or maybe even a child? Did you take the time to
notice?
Who’s
prayers will you answer? Who’s lives will you touch? How will you use your
agency? How will you use your privilege? How many missed opportunities have
idly gone by while waiting on God to intervene on our agency?
Too often I
hear, “Why doesn’t God answer the prayers of the starving children?” When what
we should be asking ourselves, “How can we answer the prayers of the starving
children?”
They ask,
“Why does God not save the dying woman from cancer?” When we should be asking, “How
can we save the dying woman from
cancer?”
You don’t have to hear a prayer to become the solution. If you simply lack the inspiration, pray. You may find the answer in becoming the answer. The power of prayer doesn’t lie in mysticism nor should the power of prayer be dismissed with cynicism. The power of prayer lies within our agency when we use and create technologies that empower us to act.
