What influences your prayers—good or bad? (Judg 17.1-3)
“The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and even spoke it in my hearing…”
Judges 17.1-3
“May my son be blessed by the LORD!”
“I consecrate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal.”
Sometimes, people can communicate and not reach a meeting of the minds. Likewise, people can often talk but lack a genuine relationship. Maybe they do not listen well. Perhaps each person means something different with the same words. Or possibly they just do not understand one another. A recent television advertisement for an eyeglasses supplier begins with a woman standing on a street curb calling for a taxi. A car pulls up, and she jumps in and gives the driver directions while looking at her cell phone. The camera pulls back to reveal that the woman is sitting in a police car, not a taxi. (She needs eyeglasses). Her directions and the words she used were clear and accurate. She communicated clearly. The lack of communication came from the fact that she thought she was speaking to a taxi driver rather than a police officer. She did not even know she had made the error.
The mere fact that we pray does not mean our prayers are effective or proper. Our phrases and words might be fine. We might be communicating our needs to God. But if we misunderstand the nature of God and the meaning of our situation, we might be praying with the wrong attitude and for the wrong things. Just because we pray does not mean that we have a meaningful relationship with God. This does not mean God does not hear the prayer. But if we are talking past Him, it is likely our prayers will leave us empty.
Background
The two prayers in this passage demonstrate the concept. At the beginning of the story, it appears that the characters are faithful people of God. They repent of wrongdoing, they pray to God, they bless one another. As the story progresses, we discover that they do not understand God or their own obligations to Him. They are sitting in a police car, but communicating as if they are in a taxi.
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