Jeffrey LaFray, a student at Florida State University, told Good Morning America that he and his fellow students used chewing gum to stay safe during last week’s mass shooting on his campus. When gunshots were being fired nearby, his teacher wanted to cover the windows of their classroom with paper so the shooter couldn’t see inside, but they didn’t have tape to use. So the students started chewing gum and then used it to stick the paper to the windows.

The April 17 attack killed two men: Tiru Chabba, a forty-five-year-old father and executive for campus vendor Aramark, who is survived by his wife and two children; and Robert Morales, a beloved high school football coach who worked in the university’s dining services department. Six people, including students, were injured as well and sent to a local hospital.

After the mass shooting, there were many calls for prayer for the victims, their families, and first responders. Despite skeptics who ridicule such responses, the Bible clearly calls us to respond to crisis by seeking God’s help and hope (cf. Philippians 4:6–7; Jeremiah 29:12).

Reading about the tragedy over the weekend, I had this simple thought: Let’s also pray for help and hope before the crisis strikes.

One way I limit God

I must confess that while I have prayed often for victims of school attacks after they happen, I have not often prayed for God to protect our schools from such attacks.

When I was a pastor, I prayed for our members as they faced health challenges, grief over the death of loved ones, and other suffering endemic to life on this fallen planet. But I did not pray often enough for God to protect them from such challenges and suffering.

One of the manifold reasons to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, not just on Easter Sunday but every day, is the fact that our risen and living Lord is just as relevant to our needs today as when he walked our planet twenty centuries ago. As I noted last week, he is praying for us even as Scripture calls us to pray to him. He is still healing the sick (Acts 3:1–10; 9:32–35) and raising the dead (Acts 9:36–43). And he is still proactively holding the world together (Colossians 1:15–17).

However, if we limit his relevance to reacting to pain and problems, we miss much of what he wants to do in and through our lives. If we were to be more proactive, praying for him to protect us from such suffering and to advance his kingdom in our broken world, what would be the results?

“Seek the welfare of the city”

The Bible admonishes us, “Ye have not, because ye ask not” (James 4:2 KJV). Could it be that much of our suffering comes from not asking God to prevent it and to work proactively to make our world better?

I am not suggesting that such prayers are a magical panacea, of course. Human free will still permits us to sin against God, others, and ourselves. And God’s ways are far beyond our finite and fallen understanding (Isaiah 55:8–9).

But any good parent wants their children to flourish positively, not just recover from crisis and calamity when they strike. We want their best, not just their survival.

Scripture calls us to seek the same from our Lord, wherever we are and whatever our circumstances. Even Jewish exiles in Babylon were told to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lᴏʀᴅ on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Paul assured us that we are “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). It is not health-and-wealth heresy to seek God’s best as proactively as possible. As we pray for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10), this means praying for far more than his help when we hurt.

And as we join him in answering our prayers by seeking the flourishing of our world, we partner with our Creator in redeeming his creation.

“You are more than your frustrations”

As I noted recently, “an abundance mentality that expects and focuses on the positive is demonstrably healthier for us than a scarcity mentality that does not.” This has been shown conclusively both in scientific and anecdotal ways.

Seeking and expecting the positive rather than the negative builds a positive focus that often becomes self-fulfilling. The bestselling author James Clear recently encouraged us:

Focus on the things you are for, not the things you are against.

Many people spend large chunks of their day thinking about what they hate. They are always telling you about something they dislike: this food, that subject, this political party, that coworker.

You are more than your frustrations. Build your identity around what you love.

When we proactively seek God’s best for ourselves and others, we can partner with our Father in answering our prayers. We become the change we wish to see, and the hands of Jesus continue his ministry in our broken world.

And just as the multitudes responded to his compassion in faith (cf. Matthew 4:23–25), so they will respond as our ministry draws them to its Source (Matthew 5:16).

Why I am not more proactive in my prayers

Why, then, am I not more proactive in responding through prayer to the world around and within me?

One reason is that I’m afraid God won’t do what I ask, and then I’ll have the problem and frustration of wondering and explaining why. If I pray for safety on school campuses and there’s another shooting, I’ll be disappointed. If my prayers are public, I’ll be embarrassed for myself and for my Lord.

Pessimists are never disappointed, as they say.

A second factor is that, despite my constant warnings over the years not to segregate religion from the “real world,” I sometimes succumb to cultural pressure to do so.

On my too-frequent bad days, my first impulse when things go wrong is to wonder why God allowed this and then to pray for him to correct his “mistake” and make things right. On my better days, I see obstacles as opportunities to pray and respond redemptively for his glory and our good.

On my best days, I pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) in communion and conversation with Jesus about everything in my world, good and bad. I thank him for the good and pray for his providence and protection to advance his kingdom. Then, when the bad does arise, I respond in faith.

Now I am resolving to have more of my “best days,” and invite you to join me.

In his 2009 song, “Closer to Love,” Mat Kearney sings, “I guess we’re all one phone call from our knees.”

When you get your next “phone call,” I hope you’ll turn to your Father.

But how will you pray today before that call comes?

 

 

Denison Forum