Prayer: Arguing with God
“Getting Things from God: A Study of the Prayer Life.” This is the title of a book published in 1915 by Charles Blanchard. I admit that I’ve never read the book, so I won’t criticize its contents, but I’m certainly dismayed by the title. While Blanchard may not have intended it this way, his title succinctly describes how many people think of prayer: a spiritual, even mystical method to get things from God; in this way, at its worst, prayer is little more than cosmic manipulation of the Deity.
I suggest that we think of prayer, not as a way to ‘get things from God’ but as ‘arguing with God.’ Of course, I must be very careful to define what I am saying. Farthest from my thought is the idea of ‘standing our ground’ against God, of arguing in a proud, self-satisfied way, or refusing to accept the lot or circumstances that God sends into our lives. No prayer in the Bible is ever argumentative.
Yet the prayers of the Bible are remarkable arguments. The Biblical pray-ers do not simply read off a list of prayer requests, asking God to intervene in each situation. We never read the Psalms and imagine David going through a numbered list – “1. Rescue me from King Saul. 2. Grant me the Kingdom of Israel. 3. Destroy Doeg. 4. Scatter the Philistines,” or any other sort of list-based, petition-focused prayers.
Yet have you noticed how the Biblical pray-ers sometimes seem more like lawyers than list-readers? David brings his requests to God with arguments. He does not simply ask, but he reasons with his Maker. Almost every Psalm provides examples. Sometimes the arguments go on for whole paragraphs, as when the psalmist describes previous mercies. In these cases, he argues from God’s precedent for mercy and salvation. Other times, the arguments are simple and straightforward, as when he says, “pardon my guilt, for it is great” (a very odd reason, you might notice, to argue for forgiveness!), or “be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing.”
This is not simply a coincidence. In Psalm 5:3, David describes his philosophy of worship, stating, “In the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” The idea in the Hebrew text is one of marshaling military forces, arranging groups and divisions of men into a battle line, or preparing for a great battle. David’s worship (the original does not specifically mention ‘sacrifices,’ only that David will ‘prepare’ and ‘wait’ for God), then, is not disorganized; it is prepared and specific, like an army arranged by a general for maximum effectiveness.
You don’t pray like this by writing out complicated proofs and arguments for your prayer beforehand; but you should develop a new mindset about prayer. It’s not just about running through a list of requests: it is a humble, respectful argument in which you plead with God, showing him the reasons why you need Him to intervene. In prayer, you grasp onto the character of God, wrestling with him in the same way that Jacob wrestled with the angel.
Abraham is a fine example. He wanted God to spare the city of Sodom, and God agreed – if he could find 50 righteous men in it. Abraham began to argue. He asks what happens if there are only 45 – or 40 – or 30 – or 20 – or even just 10 righteous men in the city. Every time, God is willing to be argued with, and God promises not to destroy the city. Here is Abraham arguing, pleading with God. Though humble, Abraham is wrestling with God, clinging to the knowledge that God is merciful and forgiving. In the end, there are not even 10 righteous men in the city, and the reader walks away with a powerful question on his mind – what if Abraham had argued just a little longer? And how might God intervene if we also argued like Abraham?
