God the Genie?

Extol the Lord, O Jerusaleum;
praise your God, O Zion,
for he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your people within you.
He grants peace to your borders 
and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
Psalm 147:12-14.
 

I have been praying since 603 days ago when Russia annexed parts of Ukraine. Praying for an end to the latest episode of wars in this world, yet it has not stopped. Nor have my prayers.

It is an eve of silent prayers as I turn to God when Gaza has the world on edge. We fear for conflict in the Middle-East that may spiral into unceasing suffering which in turn fuels our own worry of war in another continent.

People ponder why we pray if what we pray for won't come true. God is not a genie. He is not conveniently compact in a bottle. Nor should we wager with God. I mean, have we reduced God and our faith to a point where our belief is based, conditionally, upon His answer to our prayers? How many times had Jesus performed miracles and how many more miracles will we demand from God?

Prayers are often considered as talking to God the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit, as we wait for His glory. It should not surprise us that prayer to the biblical God is speech as he is a personal and relational God. Speech is how we relate to one another. God for his part has spoken to us at many times and in various ways. Through his Word preserved in the scripture over centuries of oral traditions and translation of historical texts, through the prophets and messianic psalms of poetry and by his Son who came into this world to suffer what we suffered since Adam's fall broke His creation. A world created by words of God in the beginning.

Religion is not a lifestyle choice and Christianity bears the cross of following Christ in ways harder than many. Someone dear told me that the children of God do not and will not lose faith when they have been subjected to sufferings and antisematic atrocities throughout centuries. It's not how religion works. So in the war of terror waged against Israel by Hamas, we are reminded of David's public prayers even when we fall. Praise be to you, O Lord, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. (1 Chronicles 29:10).

So let us pray (in acknowledgement of authorship by St Andrew's Cathedral):

God of the nations,  
whose kingdom rules over all,  
have mercy on our broken and divided world. 
In the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, 
Bring peace in our time, O Lord. 
In the land of our Saviour’s birth,
banish the spirit that makes for war.
Please give wisdom to those you have placed in authority.
Rescue the captives, shield those in danger, and bind up the broken hearted. 
For those fighting for justice, may they be strengthened by your grace. 
For those walking in darkness, may the light of your face shine upon them.  
Above all, we pray that the peoples of Israel and the Middle East will find everlasting hope in you. 
And in the land of your Son’s redeeming death and resurrection, 
turn hearts to look to the Saviour and live. 
Bring peace, Lord, while we wait for Christ's coming and rule, 
When all people will beat their swords into ploughshares, 
When nation will not take up sword against nation, 
And when every tear will be wiped away 
by the Prince of Peace and Lord of Lords, 
Amen.