Apologies didn’t send anything since March…
Continued from Q&A 196
Q. But is there something that can be done about it? About the messengers?
A. In what sense?
Q. Well on the one hand to stop this madness! And don’t tell me to pray about it!
A. Why should I not tell you to pray about it?
Q. Because prayer does nothing.
A. Strong statement bana!
Q. Strong, but true.
A. And is this from experience or observation?
Q. More of personal experience… I told you about it last time… But even beyond that, the way I see it: if God already knows the future, then prayer can’t change the future.
A. Ah yes. I remember… But on your last point, it sounds like in your books prayer is a means by which mankind can change God’s mind.
Q. Correct, and since God is perfect and immutable, then prayer does nothing.
A. Agreed.
Q. Agreed? That’s all you’re going to say?
A. Well if that’s the concept of prayer you have, then your conclusion is consistent logically and I can’t fault it.
Q. But…
A. But that’s not what I understand prayer to be.
Q. What is prayer in your understanding?
A. Well firstly it’s a conversation – like we’re having now. A conversation between you and God. You tell Him things, He listens. He tells you things, you listen. But more to the point you raised, I would agree that prayer doesn’t change anything in God – He is perfect and immutable. And if that is the case, then prayer is useless. But God doesn’t command us to do useless things - that would make no sense and God is always infinitely sensible. So if he commands us to pray, then it must be for another purpose.
Q. Which is?
A. Want to take a guess?
Q. I don’t know…
A. Why would God want us to do anything? What is God’s entire game plan?
Q. To get us to heaven.
A. And how do we get into heaven?
Q. Well I guess there are different ways of answering that question. What I’d say is we get into heaven if we have God’s life – grace – in us. And grace, or this divine life, makes us work, live and play in a particular kind of way.
A. Wow! Nicely put. And how do you figure prayer helps in this? We’ve already said it does not change anything in God.
Q. Ummm… Maybe it changes something in us?
A. Correct, but for what purpose?
Q. That we may receive His grace and that it may be effective in us.
A. Exactly! That’s how I see it. We pray not to change God or the future, but to change us; to make us more like God.
26th May 2019