01.06. PRAYER AND TRANSCENDENCE

6. PRAYER AND TRANSCENDENCE

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:23-24)

God is a transcendent spirit. He exists in a higher form than his creation. Although this is true, he is not aloof from his people, since by his omnipotence he is able to govern his creation and communicate with his creatures. Nevertheless, his transcendence means that he is not local. In fact, the Bible teaches that he is omnipresent: "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there" (Psalms 139:7-8). That God is omnipresent does not mean that he occupies all of physical space, at least not in the sense that we occupy physical space. Since "God is spirit" and not matter, he occupies none of physical space at all. God says in Jeremiah 23:24, "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" Now, if he fills his creation in terms of its physical space, then nothing else can exist as physical matter or occupy physical space, since we would not be able to occupy the same physical space as God. Omnipresence means, not that God fills all of physical space, but that he knows and controls all of his creation, including all of physical space, so that the same verse from Jeremiah emphasizes, "Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?" In this very real sense, God is everywhere, and there is nowhere that you can go in creation where there is no God, or where his knowledge and power does not extend. This chapter explores some of the tremendous implications that this divine attribute has on prayer.

Leading up to our text on the spiritual nature of God and the nature of true worship is a point brought up by a Samaritan woman: "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem" (John 4:20). By "this mountain," the woman means Mount Gerizim, and she is referring to the debate between the Jews and the Samaritans about the proper place of worship. Jesus answers that true worship is not to be identified with location, but with whether the person is worshiping "in spirit and in truth." Jesus appeals to the spiritual nature of God as the basis of this reply.

Failing to understand the spiritual and transcendent nature of God, the enemies of Israel says in 1 Kings 20:23, "Their gods are gods of the hills. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them on the plains, surely we will be stronger than they." They thought God was local. Those who understood the true nature of God knew better, so that even as Solomon dedicates the Jewish temple, he exclaims, "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!" (1 Kings 8:27). He knew that a transcendent God does not "live" in a physical temple. Although the form of worship that the people of God assumed during this period of redemptive history included the use of a physical temple, those who had understanding knew that God was not local. The coming of Christ signified that what the Old Covenant anticipated was about to be fulfilled. Kenneth Wuest’s comments on Romans 12:1 are very applicable at this point: "This is in contrast to the worship of the priests which consisted of outward forms, symbolic in themselves of spiritual truth, and yet not rational in the sense that this worship was not devoid of a material connection....Israel preached the gospel through the use of object lessons, the tabernacle, priesthood, and offerings. The Church preaches the same gospel in abstract terms."55

Old Covenant worship was indeed founded upon intellectual truth, but much was associated with and implied by outward expressions and rituals. Christ’s fulfillment of the Old Covenant and inauguration of the New Covenant signaled the dawn of a new era in which the people of God are free to worship him as spirit to spirit, mind to mind, intellect to intellect. True and acceptable worship is now independent of our location, and much less associated with physical expressions and rituals;56 rather, the emphasis rightly returns to sincerity and truth, to motive and doctrine.

Daniel was a pious man. Most Christians today cannot claim to approach his spiritual devotion, extraordinary character, and intellectual prowess. How many of us can claim to be "ten times" greater than the intellectual elite of our day "in every matter of wisdom and understanding" (Daniel 1:20)? More than a few theologians of our day insist that the Hebrews favor "practical" wisdom over theoretical or academic wisdom. This is not true. At least with Daniel and his friends, there is no doubt that the emphasis is placed on their "book smarts,"57 since Daniel 1:17 says, "To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning."58 Of course, this does not contradict or undermine any supernatural endowment God chose to give them: "And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds" (Daniel 1:17). For our purpose, the point is that Daniel was an all-around superior specimen of a believer.

Nevertheless, when Daniel prayed, he went to a room where "the windows opened toward Jerusalem" (Daniel 6:10). Now, those who had understanding knew that this was unnecessary, and Daniel probably did not always prayed this way. Daniel was not wrong in doing this under the Old Covenant, but under the New Covenant, it would be meaningless to do what he did. In fact, the only meaning conveyed by praying toward Jerusalem today would be a denial of the work of Christ. God is not bound to any point in space, or even especially associated with any point in space. Jerusalem is not an especially holy place today, and there is no such thing as a "holy land" from the Christian perspective.

Pilgrimage to a certain geographical area is unnecessary, and betrays not only a lack of understanding, but also a shirking of real spiritual duty, which pertains more to things like doctrine, prayer, and good works. So what if you travel to the empty tomb where Jesus occupied? Why would you feel "closer" to him? Jesus is no longer there; he left that place two thousand years ago. Now, perhaps visiting some of the biblical sites may excite you about the biblical narratives you have already read, and because of this you feel closer to God. But feeling is deceptive, and any real intimacy comes from thinking about the words that you have already read from Scripture, and you can do that at home. The Bible says that only those who believe the truth and obey his commands are close to God.

Any real benefit that you may receive from visiting these sites occurs only because they remind you of what you have already read from the Bible, which brings us back to the point that true spirituality depends on the intellect and its relationship with revealed truth; it has nothing to do with your location. But since these benefits occur only in the mind, you can receive them by reading your Bible wherever you are, only that the benefits will be greater, since you are spending more time reading and thinking, rather than sight-seeing, and trying to convince yourself that you are getting closer to God by doing so. My point is that you must not treat God as if he is local; God is spirit, and you must treat him as such by worshiping him in spirit and in truth, and not by going to Jerusalem. You are also spirit, created in his image, and therefore you can associate with him by interacting with the words of the Bible, which is his revelation to you.

One of my classmates in high school was a Muslim. He had a prayer carpet with a compass sewn into it so that he could face the direction of Mecca when he prayed. Muslims are very concerned with Mecca; their faith is entwined with this place. Thus Robert Morey wisely suggests that the United States should threaten to destroy Mecca in order to deter the Muslim terrorists.59

I saw a five-ton statue of Buddha in Thailand that was made out of fine gold. The monks covered it up with mud during wartime to protect it. The statue could not protect itself; it could not talk, hear, or do anything. When the Christian God commanded the use of physical objects in worship, he still made it clear that he himself transcended those objects, and had no direct relationship with them. So when Uzzah reached out to steady the ark of the covenant during transportation, God struck him dead (1 Chronicles 13:9-10). He will not be treated like a Buddhist statue. The Catholics take care to secure the "bread and wine" of communion, lest they spill the body and blood of Christ! Even some who call themselves Christians act as if the Bible itself ­ that is, the physical object consisting of paper and ink - ­ is especially holy, and some act as if the crucifix has special powers. But the power of God is not tied to these physical objects, and the power of the Bible is in its words, not the physical book itself. We appropriate the power of the "Bible," not by physically wielding it, but by reading it and believing its doctrines. The Christian must repudiate the sort of practices and superstitions found in Islam, Buddhism, and Catholicism. We worship God "in spirit and in truth," and not by facing a certain direction or by kissing a book.

You approach God by knowledge and by faith, not by physical technique or posture. Prayer is not better when you do it in a church, or when you are in Jerusalem, but you must pray "in spirit and in truth." If you are in ignorance or in unbelief when it comes to biblical doctrines, or if you praise God with your lips while your heart is far from him, then you will not be heard, and you are not close to God even if you are face to face with Christ.

It follows from God’s transcendence that we can pray anywhere and at anytime. You can even pray with your mind and God will hear you, for even before Psalms 139:1-24 mentions his omnipresence, it says, "O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD" (Psalms 139:1-4). The French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre could not stand the idea of Someone constantly "staring" at him, and who is aware of all that he thinks and does, and thus he needed to be an atheist. Now, although the divine attributes may produce in Christians a holy fear, they also bring invincible peace and comfort, and we would have it no other way.

PRAYER AND THE MORAL LIFE

W. Bingham Hunter writes, "From a biblical point of view, prayer is related to everything that we are and everything that God is. God does not respond to our prayers. God responds to us: to our whole life....Our all-knowing God responds to our entire lives, of which our prayers are merely a small part. This means that how you and I live when we are not praying and worshiping is as significant ­ perhaps more so ­ than when we do."60 This being the case, in thinking about prayer, it would be a mistake to place the emphasis on the very act of prayer, or any technique associated with it. A discussion on the believer’s moral life will prove to be pertinent and helpful to his prayer life even if we do not directly relate the two. Nevertheless, since this is a book about prayer, we will examine several points about the moral life, and relate it to the prayer life.