How Could We Forget?

By Jared M.

Louie Giglio describes the church accurately when he says sometimes “we pray like idiots.” The things we say in our conversations with God are often absurd. The matters we choose to bring before him reflect our ignorance of his character and concerns. We pray primarily about health and security, assuming he is most concerned about those things. We rarely find time to pray about situations outside of our contexts or interests.

Admittedly, Giglio may be overly harsh in his accusation, but do Christians really pray the way God wants? Do we really pray about the things God wants us to pray about?

A survey conducted at one Bible college revealed our lack of prayer. Students were asked the same, simple question: “On average, how much time do you spend praying for missions in a normal week?” These prayers could be for missionaries, unreached people, the persecuted church, etc.

The results were shocking: 25 percent of the students said that they spend absolutely no time praying for the world in an average week; 55 percent of the students said they spend zero to 15 minutes praying for the world each week; 70 percent said they pray between zero and 30 minutes per week.

There”s no way to know how these results compare with the prayers of the church worldwide. But is it fair to say that we spend very little time interceding on behalf of the nations? My question is, Why do we spend so little time praying for the world?

Lack of Knowledge?

Let me propose a few possible answers. Maybe we do not pray for the world because of a lack of knowledge. Maybe we do not know that we are supposed to. I hope this is not the case because God”s Word seems to be quite clear that this is our responsibility. In Matthew 9:37, 38 Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

When we examine Paul”s prayer life, we notice he prayed and asked others to pray about evangelism and the spread of the gospel. This is because God has placed so much power in these prayers. This theme is emphasized throughout Scripture: when we pray, God releases his power.

Another foundational theme is God”s desire for all nations to know him. When we make the logical connection between those two major themes, it is clear that God wants us to pray for the world.

Please do not misunderstand me. I do not mean to minimize prayer only to a tool. It is so much more than that. However, that is a realistic aspect of prayer. God has given his church a massive task to complete, but he has given us this tool to help us complete it. How foolish it would be for us to refuse or neglect this tool.

Lack of Faith?

Another possible answer is a lack of faith. Maybe we do not have faith that God will respond when we pray. But, we serve a God who has a pretty consistent track record of doing crazy things. For example, he would not give up on his rebellious and idolatrous people. He sent his only Son into the world to save sinners. He placed the responsibility of world evangelism in the hands of people like you and me.

Those seem rather outlandish, and so maybe praying for the world does seem a bit crazy: We are asking a God we cannot see to do things we may not see in the lives of people we will not see. Why would God answer these prayers? Why would he place such heavy responsibility on our prayers?

Maybe he does this because it is a partnership between himself and us. Maybe he has designed things in this way because he has placed us in a community. Honestly, I am not sure why he has done this; but he has. Do we not act on this because we lack faith?

Lack of Love?

Maybe you fall into one of those two categories, but I do not. I know I am supposed to pray for the world, and I have faith that God will respond when I do. Our failure to pray for the world could be due to a lack of love. Could the problem be that we just don”t care?

I took a trip to Sudan about a year ago. I accompanied a few Bible professors as they trained leaders in this dry, dusty land for a church that is suffering in pain. In our first day, I met a man named Michael. He is a 24-year-old church leader with a wife and children. Within moments of meeting me, he asked me to be his “prayer partner.” I was not sure what this would entail, but I quickly agreed.

Over the next several days I saw him, he asked me the same questions: “Jared, when you return to America, will you forget me? Will you forget what you have seen here, or will you pray for us? Will you get your friends together and pray for us, or will you forget? Jared, please don”t forget.”

I assured him I would never forget, and made the commitment to pray. But I forgot. I prayed for them a small amount, but not much. Why?

Just a few months ago I was on an internship in North Africa. I was practicing Arabic at a cafe when a man named Sofienne came over to converse with me (I was the only white man in sight). His English was poor, and my Arabic was worse, but we managed to communicate a little.

As the summer progressed, my Arabic improved, as did his English. I was blessed with the opportunity to share the gospel with him as creatively and clearly as I could. However, Sofienne seemed disinterested. This Muslim man was not willing to change what he had lived by his entire life.

However, as I was saying goodbye to him for the last time, he grabbed my arm and would not let go. Very surprisingly, he begged me to pray for him: “Jared, please pray for me, Jared please pray for me, Jared please pray for me.” God had finally broken through some barriers in his life.

But what happened when I returned home? I forgot.

How could I neglect to pray for these men? Why would I neglect to pray for these men? I know it is my responsibility, and I have faith that God will bless them and change them through my prayers. The reason I forgot to pray for them is a lack of love. Apparently I do not care enough. I can tell them I love them, but if my actions do not reflect this love, the words I say are meaningless and empty.

Our actions reflect our love. If we do not pray for the world, we do not really love the world. If we don”t pray for the persecuted church, we do not love it. If we do not pray for people who have never heard the gospel, we do not love them. If we do not pray for missionaries, we do not love them. If we do not pray for Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists, we do not love them. If we do not pray for Latinos, Russians, Mexicans, Europeans, and Vietnamese, we do not love them.

Pete Greig says, “Intercession will be impossible until we allow the things that break God”s heart to break ours.” Will you allow the things that break God”s heart to break your heart? God has an intense passion for the people of this world, and he has placed immense power in our prayers. What will you do with that power?

 

 

Jared M. is a student at a Christian college.