Work and Prayer by C.S. Lewis Doodle
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2023
- In an atheistic society that values work and 'social action', and despises prayer to God, C.S. Lewis introduces us to a new take on an old maxim - 'prayer IS work' ('prayer is powerful action').
This article is in a series of five fantastic newspaper articles written for 'The Coventry Evening Telegraph' from January to May 1945 and addressed typical atheist arguments:
‘Religion and Science’ (3 January 1945);
’Who was Right? Dream Lecturer or Real Lecturer’ (21 Feb. 1945 - • Video );
‘The Laws of Nature’ (4 April 1945 - • The Laws of Nature by ... );
‘Work and Prayer’ (28 May 1945 - • Work and Prayer by C.S... ); and
‘Meditation in a Toolshed’ (17 July 1945).
(0:06) The phrase ‘Pray & Work’ ('ora et labora') refers to the monastic practice of physically inactive praying & physically active working, which is the motto summary of the Rules of St. Benedict (prayer being of 1st rank). Lewis reverses the phrase to “Work & Prayer” as explained below.
In a Christian society, monks were putting too much emphasis on prayer, and neglecting practical duties in the monastery (perhaps to avoid physical work also). The new maxim “Work IS prayer” emphasized that doing the physical duties God has called you to were important also - cooking, cleaning, gardening & teaching were holy tasks as well as prayer. C.S. Lewis reverses the meaning. In an atheistic society that has no value for spiritual things or patient faith, 'work' (especially cunning attempts to control and manipulate events) is supreme & in such a society, prayer loses its shine. So Lewis takes this other meaning (6:22), & says “Prayer IS work” also (prayer is a powerful form of causality). Prayer can change and affect events - just like work - & can be far more dramatic, because it is unlimited by time and space. He then outlines the important difference in the two types of causality.
(1:51) Verses where petitionary prayer in the Bible were encouraged by God and His anointed:
For daily bread, forgiveness, guidance, deliverance: biblehub.com/nkjv/matthew/6.htm
For healing: biblehub.com/james/5-14.htm
For protection from enemies: biblehub.com/romans/15-31.htm
For conversion of the outside world: biblehub.com/romans/10-1.htm
For the Holy Spirit: biblehub.com/luke/11-13.htm
For wisdom, and guidance as to God's will: biblehub.com/james/1-5.htm, biblehub.com/colossians/1-9.htm
For strong faith: biblehub.com/luke/22-32.htm
For boldness: biblehub.com/acts/4-29.htm
For persecutors: biblehub.com/matthew/5-44.htm
(3:57) A sentence from the play ‘Macbeth’ by William Shakespeare, spoken by Lady Macbeth, the wife of the title character. Her husband has killed the king of Scotland at her urging, but her guilt over the murder gradually drives her insane. When she speaks this line she is sleepwalking, & she imagines that a spot of the king's blood stains her hand.
(4:57) As Lewis says: ' "God," said Pascal, "instituted prayer in order to lend to His creatures the dignity of causality." But not only prayer; whenever we act at all He lends us that dignity. It is not really stranger, nor less strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my other actions should do so. They have not advised or changed God's mind - that is, His over-all purpose. But that purpose will be realised in different ways according to the actions, including the prayers, of His creatures (Essay, 'The Efficacy Of Prayer').'
(7:42) “I should be thankful that we were safe from that cruel mercy [of their gods] which the wiser Pagans had to dread, numinibus vota exaudita malignis ['enormous prayer which Heaven in vengence grants']. Even as it is I must often be glad that certain past prayers of my own were not granted” (Essay, 'Petitionary Prayer').
More on prayer: The interesting thing is that God can prompt you to ask Him for certain things, say, a prayer for the protection of someone you didn’t know was in danger, and you find out the next day that at that moment they were in terrible danger, and they were miraculously saved. Prayer for things like this are according to His will, and when prayed in this gifted and certain faith are certainly answered. God prompted you to pray, therefore it is already according to His will, and then God answers the prayer, that He himself seeded. God seems to like us to be involved in the faith adventure.
See Philippians 4.6: “Be ANXIOUS about nothing, but in everything by prayer and by petition with thanksgivings, 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." Note: An atheist has to constantly try to be in total control of important events and this is extremely stressful.
It is possible to pray selfishly -“You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4.3).
Here is another of C.S. Lewis' answers to a typical question raised by atheists who demand empirical proof that a prayer has "worked":
"...Empirical proof and disproof are, then, unobtainable. But this conclusion will seem less depressing if we remember that prayer is a request and compare it with other specimens of the same thing. We make requests of our fellow creatures as well as of God: we ask for the salt, we ask for a raise in pay, we ask a friend to feed the cat while we are on our holidays, we ask a woman to marry us. Sometimes we get what we ask for and sometimes not. But when we do, it is not nearly so easy as one might suppose to prove with scientific certainty a causal connection between the asking and the getting.
Your neighbour may be a humane person who would not have let your cat starve even if you had forgotten to make any arrangement.
Your employer is never so likely to grant your request for a raise as when he is aware that you could get better money from a rival firm and is quite possibly intending to secure you by a raise in any case.
As for the lady who consents to marry you - are you sure she had not decided to do so already? Your proposal, you know, might have been the result, not the cause, of her decision. A certain important conversation might never have taken place unless she had intended that it should.
Thus in some measure the same doubt that hangs about the causal efficacy of our prayers to God hangs also about our prayers to man. Whatever we get we might have been going to get anyway. But only, as I say, in some measure. Our friend, boss, and wife may tell us that they acted because we asked; and we may know them so well as to feel sure, first that they are saying what they believe to be true, and secondly that they understand their own motives well enough to be right.
But notice that when this happens our assurance has not been gained by the methods of science. We do not try the control experiment of refusing the raise or breaking off the engagement and then making our request again under fresh conditions. Our assurance is quite different in kind from scientific knowledge. It is born out of our personal relation to the other parties; not from knowing things about them but from knowing them.
Our assurance - if we reach an assurance - that God always hears and sometimes grants our prayers, and that apparent grantings are not merely fortuitous, can only come in the same sort of way. There can be no question of tabulating successes and failures and trying to decide whether the successes are too numerous to be accounted for by chance. Those who best know a man best know whether, when he did what they asked, he did it because they asked. I think those who best know God will best know whether He sent me to the barber's shop because the barber prayed"
(The Efficacy of Prayer, 1959).
More notes in the video description above.
It’s always really spooky how often this channel releases a video that exactly matches up with the problem I’m having. Never thought I would say that God is working through youtube
Seeing this at a time when I'm conflicted about a certain prayer request. God is indeed Good. God bless you sir.
I think in addition to what Lewis said, we have to realize that prayer is for our sake as well. I think the main thing about this that confuses people, if I’m understanding the issue right, is that both parties of debate forget that God is a person. And a person is dynamic in their very nature. To say that, “a wise god wouldn’t need our prayers to make any change.” Negates the reality that a wise god might “want” our prayers to make any changes. A perfect example is writing. While I’ve already written down and laid out the course of events that happens for the stories, based on the readers’ comments to each chapter or story, I can make adjustments to better suit my audience while still having my story.
Exciting when a new video drops. So great. 🎉
I do look forward to these.
This one is new 🎉
Excited to watch 😊
Thank you dear sir. Thank you.
Truly enlightening 😮
I love what you are doing with your doodles. Just so so good!
life changing!!!
Thought provoking piece. Thank you.
So good!!
Ora et labora.
More in the video description on the subject if you are keen.