More reflections on prayer from Victorious Living by E. Stanley Jones:
. . . .prayer is not bending God to our wills--it is the bringing of our wills to God's. When we throw out a boat hook and catch hold of the shore, do we pull the shore to ourselves? Rather we pull ourselves to the shore. Prayer does not pull God to us, it pulls us to God. It aligns our wills with His will, so that He can do things through us that He would not otherwise have been able to do. An almighty Will works through our weak wills, and we can do things all out of proportion to our ability. Prayer is, therefore, not overcoming God's reluctance; it is laying hold of His highest willingness. Those who pray link up with that willingness.
Illustration Courtesy of Dan R. Dick
Praying
After reading this passage, I tried to visualize a boat being pulled closer to shore. I was in a little row boat, and God was using a rope tied to the boat to pull me in to shore. This wasn't the boat hook image that Jones mentioned. His boat operator had used the hook to snag a piece of the shore. I, on the other hand, passively sat in my boat feeling grateful that God was bringing me closer.
The idea that prayer moves us closer to God's will is very appealing. My hope is that, once aligned with God's will, I would be more willing and able to cooperate with God's activity in the world. If the kind of prayer Jones described can give me a greater insight into where God is active, then it's worth adjusting my current prayer routine and giving Jones' technique a try.
Identifying where God is acting is a challenge for me. Often I end up hooking a shore, pulling as hard as I can, and finally arriving only to discover that where I've landed might agree with my plans, but it doesn't coincide with God's plan.
Sometimes it's best to pause, cease my efforts, and check my bearings. During that pause, if God adjusts my course and pulls me in the right direction, then my passivity was beneficial. (Admitting that inaction can be good, is an admission I make with great reluctance.)
What does your experience tell you? Prayer as you reaching out and hooking God, or prayer as allowing God to hook you, which have you experience, which do you prefer, and which was more effective?
The Rev. Laura Felleman of Omaha, Neb., blogs at Methodist Doctrine, Spirit, Discipline. She is the author of The Form and Power of Religion: John Wesley on Methodist Vitality.