Jesus' own prayers for his disciples surely did not remove the 'unknown and unpredictable elements'. ... Eventually, however, eleven of the twelve underwent a slow but steady transformation, providing a kind of long-term answer to Jesus' original prayer. ... The one exception, Judas, betrayed Jesus and yet that very act led to the cross and salvation of the world. In strange and mysterious ways, prayer incorporates the unknown and unpredictable in the outworking of God's grace.
We want God to intervene more decisively, ...Jesus' prayers underscore God's style of restraint out of respect for human freedom.
When I betray the love and grace God has shown me, I fall back on the promise that Jesus prays for me, as he did for Peter: not that I would never face testing, nor ever fail, but that in the end I will allow God to use the testing and failure to mould me into someone more useful to the kingdom, someone more like Jesus.
from the Chapter "Why Pray?", [Prayer - Does it Make Any Difference]
No comments:
Post a Comment