Books by Ian Rogers
Books by Ian Rogers
“Prayer (is) an appeal to the soul of God.” Not to pray is… the incredible folly of ignoring “the possibility of adding God to our resources”.1 St Paul wrote ”Before anyone can know in God he must believe he exists and that He is good”. If God’s not there, or if God is bad or unkind, then there is no point in praying. If God is remote or passive - like Karma or the force of gravity - or uncaring - then there is no point in praying. It is only worth praying if God is there, is good, is worthy of our heart’s dedication and our praise, and if there he is a loving God. Then there is a chance He might answer us. But how big is that chance?
Christians commonly claim:
There is a story about a tramp asleep on a park bench. He awakes to see God walking past in flowing white robes.
”Hello” God says.
”Er….Hello” says the tramp. There is an awkward silence. Grasping for something to say the tramp blurts out:
”Is it true that for you a day is like a thousand years and that a thousand years are like a day?”
”Yes, yes, quite true” God answers. There is a further silence. At last the tramp asks:
”I hope you don’t mind my asking….you couldn’t spare me some change for me for a cup of tea could you?”
God looked thoughtful. He patted down his pocketless robes. ”I’m terribly sorry,” God said, ”I seem to have left my wallet behind. I tell you what - I’ll pop home and get it. I’ll only be a second”. In this case ’no’ and ’wait’ are probably the same as far as the tramp is concerned.
I remember saying during prayers after a Bible study:
”Prayer’s funny stuff isn’t it? We ask God for help e.g. for people on the far side of the world who are suffering from drought, famine etc. and the words disappear into space and we never know whether they do any good or not. We can only trust”.
The minister answered me,
”Thank you Ian, for reminding us that prayer is an act of faith”.
It’s always nice when a prayer is unbelievably answered. I read a testimony once from a medical mission in Africa. Although hot in the day it got very cold at night. A new born baby - possibly premature, I don’t recall - needed overnight warmth so a little girl prayed: ”Dear God, please send us a hot water bottle for the baby and please send a blue one.” Very shortly afterwards a parcel arrived with a letter from a supporter.
”I don’t know why,” she wrote, ”and I hope this isn’t silly, but I had the strong feeling that you needed a hot water bottle”. It was a blue one. It must have been posted weeks earlier.
<< Next Archive Previous >>