Praying According to the News

(According to the Word, Pt. 3)

Review:

In recent weeks we have talked about “Praying According to the Scripture: What does the Bible tell us to pray about?” We have also considered the practice of “Praying the Scripture itself” in Pray-reading. Pray-reading is when we leave our list behind, and use the text of the Scriptures themselves as a prompt for our prayer—our dialoguing with the Word. The following week we considered a heart-centered prayer in Praying Affectively— Scriptural Attitudes of Effective Prayer. When we consider what makes prayer effective, the questions that really stand out as crucial are not, "Where should we pray?", "When should we pray?", or "What pattern should we follow in our times of prayer?" The crucial question in determining the effectiveness of our prayer is, "What is the attitude of our hearts in prayer?" While not exhaustive we suggested seven attitudes. Do you remember what they were?

A couple of our concluding points will be a good segue into this week’s prayer focus. Let’s take a moment to admit that…

• There are seasons of disappointment (when the answer is not what we wanted) Take heart in Jesus’ prayer, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done” (Matt. 26:42).
• There are seasons of discouragement (when there appears to be no progress and people are in pain) But all is not as it appears since our perception is limited. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Gal. 6:9)

This Week:

OK, confession time! How many of you had something disappointing happen this week? How many saw, or heard about, something that made you mad? Sad? Grieved? Are any of you frustrated at your circumstances, or at the circumstances of others? As you were reacting to these situations, actions, and events, did you stop to think about how God might have felt about them? Did you pray about it? If not, why not? How we pray is what we really believe. There is an ancient Latin phrase, Lex Orandi, Lex Credenda, which means that the law of prayer is the law of our belief/life. It means that the way we pray reveals what we really believe. So, what is our law of prayer? If we don’t pray, perhaps it means that we don’t think prayer works, or we don’t think God hears us (or cares about us), or maybe we trust our own efforts more and save prayers for the last resort.

This season may be both a time of disappointment and discouragement for Christians in America, no matter what side of the political spectrum they occupy. Since the beginning of the election cycle, through the election and inauguration and now in the daily barrage of media, there seems to be a growing sense of anger and tension. Yet at the same time, it is hard to turn off the news since it seems that every day there is something important happening. A David Sipress cartoon in The New Yorker, captures it well, “My desire to be well-informed is currently at odds with my desire to remain sane.” 

As we struggle to balance being well-informed through our daily consumption of media, as we struggle to stay sane amid political strife, racial injustice, economic disparity, terrorist atrocities abroad, and natural disasters around the world, how can we pray? In dealing with the news, is there an antidote to the angst? (I think that “Angst” is perhaps the best way to describe it—an underlying sense of anguish, torment, anxiety, trouble, sorrow, a general sense of fear and concern—and is our word for the day.)

I suggest that as we pray according to the Word, and pray with the right attitudes, we also need to be engaged with what is going on around us and pray according to the news!

If we are not only to avoid insanity and general crabbiness or the other extreme of becoming calloused and cynical we need to keep praying about the news—what we see on TV and the internet, what we hear on the radio and podcasts, and what we experience first-hand. Here are seven simple suggestions for praying according to the news!

1. Be Intentional About Celebrating the Good News

“If one member suffers, all suffer together;

if one member is honored, all rejoice together. (1 Cor. 12:26)

We need to be compassionate with those who suffer but to do that we also need to rejoice with those who are honored. Most media are great at putting a negative spin on things but not very adept at reporting wholesome and positive news. It is in times like this that Proverbs 25:25 “Good news from afar is like cold water to a thirsty soul” comes to mind. However, as refreshing as good news is we tend to forget it far more quickly than bad news.

Why is it easier for us to forget the good and remember the bad? Scientific research confirms this is the case. The emotions of fear, grief, and anger, tend to etch the event into our memory. Hence the need to be more intentional about celebrating and remembering the good things.  Remembering bad things that happen to us is easy, like holding a stone in our hand (until we can throw it at someone), but remembering good things is more like holding onto a handful of oil, which quickly slips through our fingers. Do we write down or memorialize the good things that God has done?

In ancient Israel, Passover and the Feast of Unleavened bread were memorials to what God had done for them (Ex. 12:14; 13:9); as were the written record of Gods actions on their behalf (Ex. 17:14); and the two piles of 12 stones—one at Gilgal, one in the Jordan (Joshua 4:2-9). Earlier in Genesis, whenever God met with someone, they built an altar to remember that moment—Noah (8:20), Abram (12:7-8; 13:18; 22:9), Isaac (26:25), Jacob (35:7), Moses (Ex 17:15; 24:4). How do we chose to memorialize the miracles and mercies we experience?

Good news is beautiful and it is what Jesus brings to us [See also Isaiah 52:6-7; 61:1-3]. However, there is still bad news that must be faced. What should we do?

2. Mourn the bad news compassionately, tempered by hope.

In one Old Testament story, an old priest named Eli got the triple bad news of his sons’ death, the defeat of the army of Israel, and the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines (1 Sam. 4:13-19). He immediately fell off the bench, broke his neck, and died for there was no hope mixed with his grief.

King David also received a lot of bad news that prompted grief. He mourned even the death of his enemy Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. 1:11-13). In he received fake news of the death of all of his sons (2 Sam. 13:30). Fact-checking revealed that only one son (Amnon) had been killed by Absalom in retaliation for defiling his sister. Later, David mourned the news of Absalom’s death (2 Sam. 18:31). Yet, he repeatedly turned his downcast soul towards the Lord and put his trust in God (Psa. 42-43). We too should grieve at what grieves the heart of God. It is a human thing to do, but human grief will not solve it or heal it. Grief should turn our hearts back to Jesus in relational repentance, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” (2 Cor. 7:10)

3. Turn our natural fear at the news of great danger into a prayer of faith!

“God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, love, and self-control.” (2 Tim 1:7)

When we hear scary news how should we respond? Not like Damascus, whose inhabitants melted in fear at the bad news (Jer. 49:23). It would be better to respond like the good king Jehoshaphat, who in 2 Chron. 20 was also afraid, but let it move him to prayer confessing his own helplessness, “For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (v.12)

The Psalmist captured this confidence in Psalm 112:6-8,

For the righteous will never be moved;
    he will be remembered forever.
He is not afraid of bad news;
    his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid,
    until he looks in triumph on his adversaries.

We can have the same confidence in the face of bad news, not because we are perfect and righteous in our own efforts, but because Jesus Christ was perfect on our behalf!

4. Some news should prompt us to righteous action (1 Sam. 11:1-15; Neh. 1)

In some cases, the Spirit moves his people to be the answer to the prayers of others. Let me share just two examples.

A) Saul was moved to raise an army and deliver Jabesh-Gilead.

In 1 Samuel 11, Nahash, an Ammonite ruler was maiming Israelites by putting out their right eye and was threatening the town of Jabesh-Gilead with such treatment unless they could find a champion to stand up for them in a week’s time.

When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.

Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled… Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. (v. 4-7)

The Spirit of God came upon Saul in this case like he had upon the Judges before him, with the power to lead the people to victory. Years later when Saul was killed and all of Israel fled before the Philistines, it was the men of this town, Jabesh-Gilead, that risked their lives to recover the bodies of Saul and his sons (1 Sam. 31:12).

B) Nehemiah’s compassion led him to pray and act to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem (Neh. 1:1-11)

And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

      As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And I said,

“O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you… O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (1:2-6, 11)

Jeremiah mourned over the disgrace and the danger faced by the repatriated residents of Jerusalem. He prayed a prayer of confession and asked for mercy to approach the Persian king with an audacious request…that he might go and rebuild the wall. The king gave him his blessing. The Book of Nehemiah tells the story at length. As we pray, let's listen for our marching orders on behalf of others.

5) Don’t be shocked, however, we should be grieved! (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Neh. 1:4)

When people are interviewed after some serious crime occurs in their neighborhood they almost always say the same thing on camera, “It’s shocking!” However, as believers, we should not be surprised at sinful people doing sinful things…however we can be grieved! 2 Timothy 3:1-9 describes the kind of people we will encounter,

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

We should take a lesson from Nehemiah, and grieve, and pray to confess the sins of our people and our own responsibility as part of the society and system that produces such brokenness, and then put ourselves at the service of the Holy Spirit to be used to change what needs to change.

Even with these suggestions, how can we avoid getting crazy at the barrage of news? The sheer volume of it is overwhelming. We need to limit our media consumption.

6) Only watch as much as we are willing to pray about

I tend to pray silently as I watch but others pause the TV and have a prayer meeting…which further limits the amount of news one can watch! Perhaps you could pray for these specifics as you watch/listen:

• Pray for peace (Shalom) in all its fullness—physical, relational, emotional, spiritual (Psalm 122:6-7; Matt. 5:9; 2 Cor. 13:11-12) 
• Pray for God’s grace upon the situation--the goodness of God, good gifts of health, forgiveness, restoration, hope, and purpose (Rom. 15:13)
• Pray for justice to be done—that the oppressed might be set free, treated fairly, law would be followed and if the law is wrong then it might be changed (Prov. 21:13)
• Pray for wisdom, skill, and courage for first responders and relief workers (to do the right things, the right way, at the right time) and for us to know how to help. (2 Chron. 1:10; 2 Tim. 1:6-7)
• Pray for truth and grace for media outlets in the telling of the story—not curated in a way to twist the meaning or interpretation, for wisdom and discernment on our part as to where to get our media input. (Prov. 18:13; 15:28; James 1:19)
• Pray for God’s people to manifest the love of God to their neighbors in this situation (Luke 10:25-37)
• Pray that people would be softened to respond to God’s love in faith and obedience. (2 Tim. 2:23-26; 2 Peter 3:9)

7) In light of all this, what should our law of prayer (lex orandi) be? (Phil. 4:4-9)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 

Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

May watching the news never be the same again. It cannot be something we do passively or petulantly but let it be a time of Spirit-led intercession for those who cannot or won't pray for themselves.