On Prayer

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’

2 He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
   for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”

5 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your persistence he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

9 ‘So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’”

“ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

This familiar passage of the Bible implicitly condemns both atheists and those who call themselves “spiritual seekers.”

If God will reveal himself to whoever seeks him, it is not possible to honestly be an atheist. One is in denial. One also cannot claim to have long been seeking and not found. 

I submit that this is so. I say this although there was a time I too might have called myself a seeker, not a committed Catholic.

But that was actually out of fear. I recall I actually prayed that God send me no miracle, did not appear to me in any obvious way. Because if he did, I would fear I had gone mad. 

And getting past that fear felt like jumping off a cliff.

Others fear that accepting God would mean a heavy obligation on our part. We could no longer do what we want. We would need to feel guilty for things we have done. This seems to be the case for Jordan Peterson. I can remember it being the case for me. I can remember reading Jesus’s promise, “my yoke is light,” and not believing it. Fasting, abstaining from sex outside marriage, forgiving enemies… 

It is not that we think there is no God. It is that we are, like Adam and Eve, hiding in the bushes.

Usually, when you speak to an atheist, it is not that they don’t think God exists. They are angry with God. Why does he allow the innocent to suffer? Why does he not give me what I ask for? Why is he such a Fascist? This is abundantly clear of Christoper Hitchins.

You cannot be angry at someone you believe does not exist.

Given that he does exist, why indeed does God not instantly answer prayer? If he is good, why doesn’t he give us whatever we want?

Jesus explains by analogy: God is like a parent being petitioned by his son.

We immediately should understand that the parent knows better than the child; what children ask for is not always in their own best interest. They want to stay up all night and eat ice cream. God similarly knows better than we do what is good for us.

So why bother to pray at all?

Not for “stuff.” There is nothing wrong with praying for our daily bread, but beyond that, stuff is just candy.

But God wants us to pray, and to be persistent in prayer, to “annoy” God with the frequency of our prayer—like someone knocking on a door at midnight.  Not to allow God ever to ignore us.

Which really means, not to allow ourselves ever to ignore God.

And Jesus, in the last quoted verse, tells us exactly what prayer is really for: “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The thing we should pray for, and what prayer is there to obtain for us, is the Holy Spirit, the abiding voice of God, “who has spoken through the prophets.”

And with this, I aver, comes true peace and meaning. All else is just candy and childish toys.