The dream of God
"The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results"(NLT) James 5:16b
How many times haven’t we heard sermons about the potency of prayer? How many times haven’t we read awe-inspiring stories about how prayer changes things? How many times haven’t we seen and felt the evidence of an Invisible Hand directing the course of men because they prayed. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, from the rise of empires to the fall of empires, from revolutions to counter-revolutions, from the dawn of civilization to the twilight years of history, prayer has been an indomitable force of men of faith as they “overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, received what God had promised them, shut the mouth of lions, quenched the flames of fire, escaped death by the edge of the sword; their weakness turned into strength, became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight, women received their loved ones back again from death” (Hebrews 11:33-35, NLT). Yet in this fast-paced materialistic world, even God’s generals are weary and woebegone at the precipice of the battlefield.
Why is prayer not so much part and parcel of our Christian life? Why do we struggle so much to pray? Is it because we feel God doesn’t answer prayers anymore? The famed Christian Apologist C.S. Lewis in his book Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer had this to say:
“They tell me Lord, that when I pray,
Only one voice is heard;
That I’m dreaming,
You’re not there,
This whole is thing is absurd.
Maybe they’re right, Lord,
Maybe they’re right.
Maybe there’s only one voice that’s heard.
But if there’s only one voice that’s heard,
Lord, it’s not mine, it’s your voice.
I’m not dreaming; you are the dreamer
And I am your dream.”
A praying Christian becomes the dream of God. He becomes the prism through which God disperses His spectral colours to the hideous world.