The Prayers We Don't Pray
This Week At Windsor E-News 24.03.2023
When we come to worship this Sunday, we'll see Jesus yet again in the spotlight. Moments after asking that "this cup" might pass, our Lord gets his answer: his betrayer comes with armed guards to take him into custody. The cup will not pass; Jesus must drink it.
But, we find Jesus surprisingly calm amidst the chaos. The Jesus we saw agonising in prayer is now strengthened, confident even, he will endure. Having entrusted himself to the Father, Jesus models for us the heart of surrender through prayer. As the story unfolds, Luke next presents for us Peter's denial, which got me thinking: "What is the cost of prayerlessness?”
A good test case is Exodus 32-34 -- another infamous faltering of faith -- where the Israelites break commandments 1-3 and worship the idol of the golden calf. Their impatience gave way to doubt, which gave way to sin, and its destructive consequences. Their condemned fate was sealed, until Moses prayed.
About this passage, Alec Motyer writes: “At the heart of [God’s] changelessness is a ‘mystery,’ a ‘revealed secret,’ that the sovereign, unchangeable God accomplishes his purposes through the prayers of his people. … Prayer is one of the ‘laws of God’ by which he runs his world."
If God in His sovereignty chooses to act through the human agency of prayer, what is the cost of the prayers I don't pray?