Praying for Mallacoota and Cobargo

The promise and puzzle of prayer – praying for Mallacoota and Cobargo

Bushfires recently threatened the Australian town of Mallacoota with disaster. Christian media carried reports of a faithful Christian man who stared down the Mallacoota fires with a prayer of faith for winds to change. The winds changed and the immediate threat was averted. This was rightly hailed as a great act of God and a result of persistent prayer (Lke 18:1-8). Meanwhile, prayer meetings were held for other threatened towns such as Cobargo. However, the fires came, and Cobargo became ashes.

And so, there is the puzzle of prayer.

But first the promise of prayer.

Jesus said that if we ask anything in his name, he will grant it (Jn 14:12-14). This does not mean that we treat prayer as a machine-like access to an ATM where our PIN is “J-E-S-U-S” and God is obliged to give whatever we ask if the PIN is correct. Rather it means to pray as Jesus would pray. That is, we pray with his mindset and asking for things that we know he wants and which honour him. This is very similar to the word that if we ask anything according “to his will” it will be given (1 Jn 5:14). To pray according to the Lord’s will is to ask for the things that we know he wants because the Bible tells us that he wants them.

An illustration may help. If a husband knows that his theatre-loving wife dislikes the thought of bungee jumping but still asks her to go, the result is predictable. However, it will be very different if he suggests a theatre outing, for that is within her character and will. Likewise with God. Our prayers need to be within his character and will. For example, we know that he wants people to repent (Ex 18:32; 1 Tim 2:2). So, it is right to prayer for the conversion of people. However, the holiness of God means that it is an absurdity to pray that he blesses a plan of ours to do some sin.

These sayings, along with general sayings on prayer (eg Matt 7:7; 11:24; Jn 15:7) encourage Christian people to “pray always” (1 Thess 5:17).

So, the promise is that if we are close to God and ask for things within his character and revealed will we can ask with confidence that it will be given (Matt 7:7)

Back to Mallacoota and Cobargo.

It is reasonable to assume that faithful people prayed for Cobargo and other fire-ravaged towns, just as they and others prayed for Mallacoota. They prayed as people who abided in Christ and who believed that God is called ‘almighty’ because he is able to do whatever he wants. Their prayer that God spare Cobargo the sufferings of bushfires seems as much within God’s revealed character as does the prayer that he spare Mallacoota.

Righty we attribute the Mallacoota deliverance to the Lord’s intervention and thank him for it. Where does that leave Cobargo and those who prayed for the same deliverance? Is the Lord capricious, such that he heard Mallacoota prayers and arbitrarily turned his back on Cobargo? Were the prayers for Cobargo less well-framed or the people less abiding in Christ?

The point here is that care is needed in interpreting the outcome of our prayers and attributing divine intervention. We know that God knows our needs, that he is mindful of the needy and that he is able to do as he pleases. The Cross of Jesus is the guarantee of all this as we see his goodness, power and mercy combine to saving effect. His character is beyond question.

However, God does not always do what we think will please him. And so, we are perplexed.

Scripture helps resolve this perplexity about prayer.

Consider the quite natural prayer of Jesus that he be spared the Cross (Lke 22:42) or the prayer of Paul that the Lord remove a troubling affliction (2 Cor 12:8). Both seem reasonable prayers that fit within the Lord’s care for people, but neither prayer was granted. Jesus hints at a bigger picture when he adds “... not my will but yours be done”. Had his specific prayer be answered, the world would have been denied the redemptive work of his Cross. Likewise, when Paul sees how the Lord’s refusal of his specific prayer was for his good and the good of his ministry (2 Cor 12:7-10). These examples are reminders that God sees a bigger picture than we do and is doing things which we cannot begin to imagine. Our prayers are to be framed within his revealed will, while acknowledging that there are parts of his will that are not revealed to us (Deut 29:29)

We do not know why God granted the prayers for bushfire relief in Mallacoota and not in Cobargo. Our part is to continue in believing prayer within his revealed character and will and to keep trusting in his power and goodness even when our specific prayers are not answered. And of course, to weep and care for those whose prayers were denied even as we rejoice with those whose prayers were answered.

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