Prayer or Magic?

(To catch up with the argument read this, this and this.) Here’s another idea to throw into the mix. If prayer worked the way many expect it to, then it would not be prayer. It would be magic. It would be a way to manipulate God. C. S. Lewis had some insight on this:

Invariable ‘success’ in prayer would not prove the Christian doctrine at all. It would prove something much more like magic—a power in certain human beings to control, or compel, the course of nature.

Then he points out that Jesus’ original request in the Garden of Gethsemane was not granted. And Paul had his request denied three times (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).

What is the difference between a mature believer who has her prayers answered consistently (and positively) and a (hypothetical) person who is able to manipulate God to do what he wants God to do?

Pastor Rod

“Helping you become the person God created you to be”