Prayer
So I have a question. Do you think prayer can work retroactively? Does God take a certain action on things based on his knowledge that we will pray in that direction, even if we haven't yet?
I was thinking about this last week when I went to the Ecuadorian consulate in LA to see about getting a visa. I was thinking about posting asking for your prayers for that, but then I didn't because it was already late at night and I was going the next morning and I thought, "they won't read it before I've gone." And then I got to asking myself if prayer can work that way. I've thought about it before, but never this much.
Here's what I mean. Let's say I make a blog post asking for prayers for something that's happening the next day. Then let's say you read that post the day after the event has happened. Or two days after or two hours after, whenever. But you still haven't heard the outcome of said event. Can you pray for things that have already happened ("God, I pray that went well" "I pray that you did this or that")? I mean obviously you can...but does it matter what we pray at that point? Or not? I wonder if in the crucial moment God thinks about all the prayers that have been lifted up on behalf of that moment, and I wonder if He considers prayers that will be lifted after the moment has occurred when He has already taken some kind of action. I wonder if those prayers that take place afterward affect his decisions. And I wonder, if those prayers that would have been prayed after the fact, never get prayed because we think it's too late...will God respond accordingly?
I like to think they do matter; that prayer can work that way. That's just my hope, I have no Biblical backing for that opinion, but I have seen evidence of the incredible power of prayer, and I believe God is capable of anything. So...why not? What do you think?
I was thinking about this last week when I went to the Ecuadorian consulate in LA to see about getting a visa. I was thinking about posting asking for your prayers for that, but then I didn't because it was already late at night and I was going the next morning and I thought, "they won't read it before I've gone." And then I got to asking myself if prayer can work that way. I've thought about it before, but never this much.
Here's what I mean. Let's say I make a blog post asking for prayers for something that's happening the next day. Then let's say you read that post the day after the event has happened. Or two days after or two hours after, whenever. But you still haven't heard the outcome of said event. Can you pray for things that have already happened ("God, I pray that went well" "I pray that you did this or that")? I mean obviously you can...but does it matter what we pray at that point? Or not? I wonder if in the crucial moment God thinks about all the prayers that have been lifted up on behalf of that moment, and I wonder if He considers prayers that will be lifted after the moment has occurred when He has already taken some kind of action. I wonder if those prayers that take place afterward affect his decisions. And I wonder, if those prayers that would have been prayed after the fact, never get prayed because we think it's too late...will God respond accordingly?
I like to think they do matter; that prayer can work that way. That's just my hope, I have no Biblical backing for that opinion, but I have seen evidence of the incredible power of prayer, and I believe God is capable of anything. So...why not? What do you think?
posted by Amy at 8:14 AM
8 Comments:
I say yes, you can pray retroactively and I believe it can work/be answered.
I've had several professors encourage me to think in a more creative fashion about the way God understands time. We are time bound: We live in the present, can only recall (not change) the past, and cannot foresee the future. God is not time bound. He is from and unto everlasting, and what appears to us a great time is but a moment for him. He stands outside human history, and outside our limitations, and there is never any such thing as superfluous prayer.
Of course Denise, that entire theory is based on the belief that God is out of time, which some people don't necessarily believe to be true. With that being said, yes I think we can pray about something after it has happened, especially if the result is still unclear.
Interesting. I have been thinking a lot about time lately. Since we are on this linear timeline and God is out of the timeline, seeing yesterday and tomorrow today just because he can see the whole timeline, he works things out according to how he wants but is also hands off because the world is turning and we are created and there are some things he just limits himself about. So I don't know, in answer to your question. :) Whats new these days?
By the way, how do I subscribe to you?
I believe we can pray retroactively. God understands better than any of us what dwells in our hearts so I assume he'd know if such a subject would be of concern enough for us to pray about it even if it were after the fact. follow?
thanks for the responses/e-mails about the retroactive prayer idea. i continue to believe that my retroactive prayers are serving a purpose. so...good times.
Not sure I understand getting all knotted up about the timing of prayer. Keep it simple: pray for God's will to be done in your life and the lives of others, and you never have to worry about time.
yes.
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