Releasing Power
Prayer has long been seen as a means for releasing God’s power. Jesus’ brother wrote in James 5:16, “The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” It’s not an uncommon view to connect prayer to God’s effective power in this manner. However, when asked to teach about prayer, Jesus offers his disciples a condensed model (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:2-4) that lacks a feature akin to James’ assertion.
Luke’s version ends plaintively with a simple plea about God’s leading. In both versions, it reads, “…and lead us not into temptation.” I’ve always been a little troubled by this phrase, as if God might lead us into something that we’re commanded to avoid. It’s like we’re asking Him to restrain Himself. If there is a release of power, it seems it’s God exercising His power upon Himself for our sake.
That’s an unfortunate artifact of most English translations. The word the evangelists use for “temptation” is peirasmon, which is better understood as adverse trials. So, we can best understand this as a plea for God to protect us from adverse circumstances that might make us more vulnerable to the Devil’s schemes. This is a solid understanding of the phrase.
I believe Jesus is teaching us more, though. He first instructs us to honor God, then to call for the Creator’s sovereignty to express itself in creation — including the actions of we humans — like it does in His heavenly realm. Jesus moves next to the necessities of human flourishing: bodily and relational needs. This appears to be an inclusio, a neat package that articulates the union of heaven and earth.
But, Jesus continues, instructing us to add a disclaimer about temptation. Is it a protective plea, for sure, but of what? The Evil One, who is named. However, it is also protective of our frailties. Jesus knows that we will pray imperfectly, with mixed motives, so He salts His teaching with humility. I think it’s possible to understand the text “…lead us not into temptation,” as something akin to, “Lord, if there is anything for which we’ve asked that is not in our best interests — or not for our highest good and your glory — please do not lead us anywhere near that becasue of the sin that awaits us there. Do not allow us to go our preconceived way apart from your loving constraints.”
This dovetails nicely with Saint Paul’s instructions in Ephesians 6:18, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions…” Of course, we cannot pray in submission to God’s loving will apart from the Spirit. And, even if we set ourselves to “…pray in the Spirit on all occasions,” we will do so imperfectly. Let’s face it. We will introduce sin. James’ “righteous person” is not perfectly sinless, but made righteous in Jesus. That person still sins (1 John 1:8-9). That does not mean that they are not righteous in their Abba’s sight, nor are they denied all prayerful petitions.
Think about it. We invest our prayers with “In Jesus’ name.” What does that mean? Is it some kind of magical incantation that leverages God so we might realize our desires word-for-word as prayed? God forbid! No, it is an acknowledgement that God’s response to our prayers must comport with the character and perfections of Jesus. If that’s not what we mean when we say it, we are simply parroting the Lord’s instructions with little understanding of His meaning.
So, when we pray, we must release power in two ways. First, is the more common understanding: prayer moves God in Heaven to act. How and why is beyond the scope of this post, but it is well-established in the Christian tradition that we pray and God moves. However, the second way of releasing power is different. It is also faith-filled and fervent, but it is detached from the outcome. It invites God’s sovereignty as an expression of His boundless love. It is soaked in humility, never daring to command God.
Can these gaurdrails co-exist? Can we pray believing that we move God in Heaven, but releasing both the trajectory and timing of that movement? Yes, I believe we can.
— Pastor Steve