Passionate Prayer (and Comments)

“Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them?”  Jeremiah 26:19

Entreat– What does it mean to entreat someone?  Even in English we have a difficult time expressing this thought succinctly. Certainly the concept involves a gesture of respect, an act of petition, a plea for assistance, and a hope for benevolence.  But this does not exhaust the extension of the idea in the Bible.  In fact, this word is the beginning of a special idiom (ḥālâh pānîm) that we translate “entreat the favor of.” It is literally “make gentle the face.”  In other words, this phrase introduces an act that attempts to make God smile.  That’s why you find it used in particularly stressful circumstances when it is very important that the prayers of men cause God to change His mind.

But a reader remarked:  “I have somewhat of a struggle accepting the phrase ‘the prayers of men cause God to change His mind.’ My concept of prayer is that it brings my heart and mind into alignment with the sovereign God, not Him into alignment with my puny, limited, self-centered, temporal-focused desires/wishes/requests, etc. The Word tells me that God is not a man that He should change-see Numbers 23:19 and I Samuel 15:29. Can you imagine how fickle God would be if He was [sic] changing at the prayers of millions of well-meaning, but finite men and women around the world? I think perhaps you mean something other than what I understand from this sentence.”

There’s something else that’s interesting about this phrase.  It is not part of the specialized religious language of the Hebrews.  It is not found in the temple language or the language that surrounds the sacrificial system of worship.  It is a phrase that is used by common people, not by the priests.  Making God smile is part of the prayer language of the non-professionals.  It is the kind of thing that you and I do.

Just think about that.  Why do you suppose the religious aristocracy of Israel doesn’t use this phrase but the laity do?  Do you think it might be because this kind of action is like the action of a child before a father?  You wouldn’t expect to perform an act of humbling petition in front of a stranger, would you?  No, it is far more intimate than that!  To come before God with prayers that hope to make Him smile is to assume a deeply personal and intense bond.  It’s far more than asking for a favor.  It emphasizes an inner expectation that God wants to listen and help.  But it also has desperation in its mood.  I entreat God when I am up against it, when I have reached my last resource. Did you notice that the verse suggests that attempting to make God smile is associated with the fear of the Lord?  Of course it is!  To fear the Lord is to honor Him as the ultimate authority and supreme ruler of my life.  More than that, He is my loving benefactor.  I seek His face because I know it is good for me to do so.

Have you prayed like this, detaching yourself from the religious rituals, the expected, sanctified vocabulary you hear in church, and opened your heart to the desperation of your soul?  Have you come before your Father expecting to see Him smile? Have you asked God to change His mind on your behalf because your heart is breaking?  Or are your prayers just too passive to be noticed?

Response to the reader:  Do you suppose God looks at your prayers as “puny, limited, self-centered, temporal-focused desires/wishes/requests”?  Or are they precious to Him even if they aren’t heavenly aligned simply because they are expressions of who you are at that moment?  I think, like a father, He is glad to have the communication open even if it seems a bit self-centered.  I am quite sure He can handle any corrections needed.

Secondly, it’s a logical mistake to think that the verse about God not being a man means He doesn’t change.  What the verse suggests is that the ontological character of God doesn’t change, but there are many verses that clearly describe God changing His mind, altering His intentions, or adjusting His plans.

Finally, since God is quite capable of sorting it all out, I don’t think He is overwhelmed by the pedestrian ways we approach Him. Millions of prayers do not require millions of fulfilled requests.

The basic problem in the response is the confusion of change and perfection, a confusion with a very long theological history.  Our idea of perfection, from the Greeks, means change cannot happen.  But God isn’t a perfect idea.  He is a living God and living gods interact with creation.  Change is an attribute of life, ours and God’s.

Topical Index: prayer, change, entreat, Jeremiah 26:19