petitions, which fails to note the figurative intent of some passages, <strong>and</strong> the explicitscriptural statements that contradict their position.Forming a proper conception of prayer brings us to note the implications of biblicalprayer <strong>and</strong> its relation to divine sovereignty, namely, we must think, speak, <strong>and</strong> pray "asif" God is sovereign, because he really is sovereign. Divine sovereignty does not threatenthe meaningfulness of prayer as long as we do not insist that meaningfulness depends onsome weakness or deficiency in God, so that he needs us to pray in order to intervene oraccomplish his plans. Rather, prayer is meaningful because it is a chosen means thatplays a role in accomplishing the plans of God. Divine sovereignty also implies that thereis never a need to assume that all is lost due to a failure to pray, although such failure is amoral problem that we must correct. We should realize that the fate of the universe doesnot depend on us. For this reason, referring to "the power of prayer" is misleading, sincethere is no power in prayer itself, but the power is only in God. If we insist on using thisphrase because of habit, at least we should be aware of the truth, that the power is in Godalone, <strong>and</strong> that we say such things as "the power of prayer" only as a manner of speaking.34
5. PRAYER AND OMNISCIENCEAnd when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will beheard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows whatyou need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:7-8)God has exhaustive knowledge of all things. He knows all bout our past, present, <strong>and</strong>future. He knows all of our thoughts <strong>and</strong> actions. He is omniscient. Scripture repeatedlyreminds us of this attribute of God, <strong>and</strong> we must take care not to forget it, or act in a waythat is inconsistent with it. That is, if God is omniscient, then we should think <strong>and</strong> act in away that reflects our acknowledgment of this divine attribute. In our context, divineomniscience has several implications for how we should pray.Some people think that God will hear them because their prayers are long <strong>and</strong> repetitious.In some religions, prayer often consists of monotonous chants or prescribed prayers thatare recited again <strong>and</strong> again without thought. On the basis of God's omniscience, Jesuscondemns such prayers. He tells us not to be like these pagans because God alreadyknows what we need before we ask him.Once I was on a telephone conference call with several women who regularly called in topray <strong>and</strong> to discuss spiritual things. After several needs were mentioned, one of themhijacked the conference <strong>and</strong> began to pray…<strong>and</strong> pray…<strong>and</strong> pray. Much of it wasrepetitious, unbiblical, <strong>and</strong> pious-sounding mystical nonsense. So I lost interest <strong>and</strong> putdown the phone to make myself a cup of coffee. Then, I went to my desk <strong>and</strong> tidied it upa little. When I picked up the phone, she was still praying, <strong>and</strong> it sounded just the same.I am not sure how long she prayed, but I think it must have been twenty minutes. In asetting where the primary function of the conference is discussion, the prayers should bebrief, perhaps limited to one minute or so. In this case, her prayer could have been said inten to thirty seconds. No public prayer should last twenty minutes unless there is somesort of a prior agreement, <strong>and</strong> even then I hesitate to give my approval to it, since giventhe way people pray nowadays, it would just be twenty minutes of wasted time. But if weare assured that the entire prayer will consist of meaningful content without needlessrepetition or other stupid behavior, then perhaps an even longer prayer is justified attimes.If I were to think better of the woman than what her behavior suggested, I would say thatshe had formed some poor prayer habits. But in this case, it was evident that she wantedto dominate the conference, <strong>and</strong> to get the attention <strong>and</strong> approval of other participants.She wanted to show the rest of us her spirituality <strong>and</strong> passion for the things of God,which her lengthy prayer in fact suggests to be false. She succeeded in annoying me <strong>and</strong>nothing more. But if she had gained the admiration of the other women that night,35
- Page 1 and 2: PRAYER & REVELATIONVincent CheungCo
- Page 3 and 4: PREFACEIn his book, With Christ in
- Page 5 and 6: PRAYER AND THE TRIUNE GODThe doctri
- Page 7 and 8: interpretation of Christianity, the
- Page 9 and 10: of metaphysics (or reality), which
- Page 11 and 12: nevertheless sound reluctant to blu
- Page 13 and 14: 2. PRAYING TO THE FATHERThis, then,
- Page 15 and 16: The above leads us to reject the no
- Page 17 and 18: I urge you to read the sermon, "Sin
- Page 19 and 20: 3. PRAYING BY THE SPIRITFor through
- Page 21 and 22: First, we need to clarify what "gro
- Page 23 and 24: The passage indeed implies that bel
- Page 25 and 26: the limitations of our minds. Howev
- Page 27 and 28: It is significant that when believe
- Page 29 and 30: PRAYER AND THE DIVINE NATUREIn the
- Page 31 and 32: 4. PRAYER AND SOVEREIGNTYI form the
- Page 33: figures of speech; technically spea
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- Page 39 and 40: that the man may receive the money
- Page 41 and 42: Whatever we do, the principle remai
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- Page 45 and 46: itself - that is, the physical obje
- Page 47 and 48: 7. PRAYER AND MOTIVATIONAnd when yo
- Page 49 and 50: sin that lingers. You must struggle
- Page 51 and 52: 8. PRAYER AND OBEDIENCEIf anyone tu
- Page 53 and 54: commands and remain in his love." I
- Page 55 and 56: 9. PRAYER AND PERSISTENCEThen Jesus
- Page 57 and 58: necessarily apply to our relationsh
- Page 59 and 60: Then Jesus told his disciples a par
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- Page 63 and 64: PRAYER AND THE INNER LIFEThe inner
- Page 65 and 66: 10. PRAYER AND EXPERIENCEOne day Je
- Page 67 and 68: cannot tell me if you can catch all
- Page 69 and 70: Would you condemn me to justify you
- Page 71 and 72: elieve! Trust God! This is what God
- Page 73 and 74: Our culture favors the free express
- Page 75 and 76: we cannot overemphasize the importa
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