Prayer and Revelation - Online Christian Library

that the man may receive the money he wants from her life insurance. But then, the manwould no longer need the money. Stanley Grenz gives the following example:The goddess of the dawn, Aurora, fell in love with a human youth,Tithonus. When offered by Zeus any gift she might choose for herlover, she requested that Tithonus live forever. Unfortunately,Aurora failed to specify that Tithonus remain forever young. Herrequest was granted, but in an unfortunate way. Poor Tithonusgrew ever older and could never die. The gift of Zeus became acurse. 52In my example, the man would need to specify that his request must be fulfilled in a waythat will not bring any harm to his wife. But then the deities may decide that the manhimself or his son should die in the process of granting the petition. The man may specifythat no harm should come to anyone in order for the request to be granted or as the resultof the request being granted. But then he fails to specify how long it should take beforethe money comes, so that he may not get it in time.In Grenz's example, Aurora could have specified that Tithonus were to remain foreveryoung besides living forever. But then she may have failed to specify that Tithonusshould also be immune to sickness, so that the result may be that he could be immortaland young, but forever ill and in torment.As one who often deals with theology and philosophy, I try to be specific and precisewhen communicating my views, and I try to anticipate objections or misunderstandingsso that I may address them in my presentation. However, even if I were to anticipate allthe ways in which my words can be distorted and misunderstood, and even if I were toanticipate all the potential objections to my views, it would be impossible to address allof them in any given presentation. But the fact is that I may indeed fail to anticipatecertain objections and distortions, so that I can only address them if they were directed atme after my presentation.However, the difficulty is nothing compared to the problems that may arise whenspeaking to God. If God were to behave like the pagan deities, it would be impossible tooutwit him by formulating a perfect petition that cannot be distorted or answered in a waythat makes things worse. But Jesus assures us that this is not something we need to worryabout – God is not like the pagan deities. He is not trying to trick us or mock us. Thus Ineed not try to cover myself from every possible angle when I bring my request beforehim. God already knows about my needs, and I can trust him when I speak to him. Hewill not use my petition as an opportunity to make my situation worse. When I ask for anegg, I do not need that I want a chicken egg of a particular size, of a particular color, froma particular farm, and that I do not want a poisoned or spoiled one.Therefore, when we pray, we may wish to include some details, and be specific enough toconstitute clear communication. But we must also assume the omniscience and52 Grenz, Prayer; p. 84.39