Discrediting God A Scheme of the Enemy

Romans 11: 33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

Man has spent nearly 5 million dollars this decade trying to scientifically quantify prayer and the effects of prayer. One portion of this money, 2.4 million was spent on a study conducted to measure the effects of prayer on the recovery of heart patients. The New York Times reported in 2006 that one conclusion of this study is that intercessory prayer has no effect on the recovery of such patients. We must be a never ending source of amusement for God.

The arrogance it takes for the created to think he can assess and quantify the creator is staggering. It reminds me of the arrogance of the created when they tried to build the Tower of Babel.

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:4

The arrogance is not in the trying to reach the heavens, but in the motives, which were to "make a name for themselves." The arrogance of the researchers in the heart study case is not in trying to seek answers but in assuming they can put God in a box at one end and a piece of cheese at the other. This is obviously the work of the prince of this world, Satan.

The enemy is constantly trying to discredit God through any means possible and science is always a favorite tool of his. If you discredit God, you destroy faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. But boiled down to its barest elements, science is nothing more than faith as well. It is faith in what man has said where Christianity is faith in what God has said. It is science that once believed the earth was flat. It is science that once believed everything revolved around the earth. It is science that believed using leeches was a good medical practice. The point being is that science changes as time moves on. Better answers are found, better theories are tested. Yesterday's science is today's old wives tales.

God never changes though. His Word was written over a period of 1400-1800 years, by over 40 different authors, penning 66 books. Yet despite the breadth of the undertaking, it has never changed. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And as a bonus, we do not need to spend 2.4 million dollars to maintain our faith in His Word!

But the enemy wanted this study to be widely accepted and he spared no expense. The study lasted over a decade and covered over 1800 patients. It certainly was comprehensive by the standards of man. In the study, the researchers monitored 1,802 patients at six hospitals who received coronary bypass surgery, in which doctors reroute circulation around a clogged vein or artery. The patients were broken into three groups. Two were prayed for; the third was not. Half the patients who received the prayers were told that they were being prayed for; half were told that they might or might not receive prayers. The researchers asked the members of three congregations -- St. Paul's Monastery in St. Paul; the Community of Teresian Carmelites in Worcester, Mass.; and Silent Unity, a Missouri prayer ministry near Kansas City -- to deliver the prayers, using the patients' first names and the first initials of their last names. The congregations were told that they could pray in their own ways, but they were instructed to include the phrase, "for a successful surgery with a quick, healthy recovery and no complications."

Well, that should settle the matter of intercessory prayer, right? Not so fast. First of all, the study revealed that 59% of the patients who knew they were being prayed for experienced some complications while only 51% of those who were uncertain if they were being prayed for experienced similar complications. Wow, an 8% differential. And this is reported as "significant." Once again the bias of man seeping in through the enemy to try and discredit God. How about looking at the fact that 41% and 49% of people who had these surgeries experienced zero complications! This is not exactly surgery to remove a bunion. This is open heart surgery! Praise God that so many would experience no complications at all!

What about serious complications? The study found that 18% of those who received prayer suffered a serious complication (such as stroke or heart attack) compared to only 13% of those who did not receive the intercessory prayer. Wow again, a 5% differential. This is what man chooses to focus on instead of the fact that 82% and 87% of people suffered no serious complications from one of the most serious surgeries someone can go through! Praise God again!

The best part of this article is that the researchers admitted that both of these groups of statistics involving complications could be purely from chance. Yet the title of the article is, "Long Awaited Medical Study Questions the Power of Prayer." Anything to cast doubt on God. But of course what was left out of this study, was God.

God is sovereign beloved. He decides what He wishes to do. He decides who He heals and who He calls home:

Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes. Psalm 115:3 (NLT)

This is often the crux of our faith. We do not know why God makes the decisions He does yet we still must trust Him. Job depicts a story that cannot be quantified or studied. Job was blameless and upright before God. He feared God and shunned evil. In one day, Job lost everything. His entire family was wiped out and his possessions lost. His body was covered with boils and those that knew him walked away. Yet despite these afflictions and a wife who recommended that he curse God and die, this was the response of Job:

...Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble... Job 2:10

Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him... - Job 13:15

That is the essence of faith. It cannot be quantified or measured. How many of the people who were going through the surgery said to themselves, "shall I accept good from God and not trouble?" There is in fact a whole litany of independent variables that could have affected this scientific study. Each individual person contributes there own predisposed biases. Here however are the crucial flaws in the design.

First of all, there is a basic assumption being made that the existence of a complication equals the intercessory prayer failing. Now I know that the researchers asked the prayer warriors to specifically ask for no complications but that does not mean that the existence of complications means the prayers did not work. It simply means God said no. God has three answers when we pray, yes, no, and wait. The human condition is such that if the answer is not "yes", we automatically think God must somehow not be hearing us. Maybe the complication is what God will use to draw that person back to Him. Maybe the complication is what will renew the person's faith. This flawed assumption is that man can somehow know the mind of God. This is simply not accurate:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55: 8-9

The size of the universe is considered by science to be 156 billion light years. If you break down the word universe its root origins mean: "single spoken sentence." That is because God spoke the entire universe, all 156 billion light years, with one sentence! And here we are. Little old man. A cosmic speck in the eyes of the creator trying to assume that if God does not answer the way we prescribe Him to that He must have somehow not heard the prayer. That prayer itself is ineffectual. That surpasses the arrogance of those at the Tower of Babel.

True faith says I do not have to know in order to believe. There are some things that God decides which are on a need to know basis and He has told me I do not need to know. That is ok by me. Because faith is trusting that God is in control for my well-being:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8: 28

We KNOW. We do not guess, hope, or try to scientifically prove. We know. The other underlying flaw is that somehow God would be interested in adhering to any plan of His creation. That somehow God answers to man. That the clay wishes to put the potter on the wheel. God will not be studied. His ways are so far above ours. He does not feel the need to justify Himself to His creation. I know the familiar refrain from non-believers. That this would have given God an opportunity to prove His existence. But no matter what the results were; those who do not want to believe in God will find a reason to not believe. The Pharisees asked for signs all the time and ignored the signs that were right in front of them. We do the same thing. How someone can look at a sunset and think it is all random is beyond me. How someone can look at the intricacies of the human body, diversity of species and how everything interacts with each other and think it is all random is beyond me.

God is everywhere beloved. He is in the sky you see, the water you hear rushing, the creation surrounding you. You will not find Him if you are not looking for Him. If you are looking to disprove Him, you will find a reason that makes you feel secure. When Paul was writing to new believers at the Church at Ephesus he explained how the world (Gentiles) thinks:

With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. Ephesians 4: 17-18 (NLT)

The NIV version says it is the "futility of their thinking." That is pretty accurate when they spend 2.4 million dollars to study a God who is summed up beautifully in our key verses. Who can know the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?

They have closed their minds and hardened their hearts. Their desire is the same as their father the devil to supplant God. To remove God and place man in His stead. But man makes a poor God. I say these things not to cause strife, for we should pray for those who seek to discredit God. Oh wait, they do not think there is legitimacy to intercessory prayer...

Pray anyway, it doesn't matter what they think or believe. It matters only that God is in control. He will answer every prayer yes, no, or wait. Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! His judgments and decisions are not searchable! They cannot be scientifically studied and placed in a box! We cannot trace out His paths! From Him and through Him and to Him are all things! To Him alone be the glory alone forever and ever! Amen.

Reverend Anthony Wade April 14, 2010