Let’s not Oversell It

The other day I said some religious people were fasting and praying, in hopes of securing a McCain victory. And a reader criticized the effort, believing that the existence of free will made it pointless to pray for an election outcome. Votes are cast by people with free will, so it makes no sense to ask God for victory. That is the theory.

There are a lot of things wrong with that theory. First of all, the Apostle Paul pointed out that secular authorities are placed over us by God. And the Bible is full of leaders who were chosen by God. David, Saul, and Moses are obvious examples. Gideon, Noah, Jeroboam…you could list such leaders all day. Second, if you’re God, you don’t have to control voters and take away their free will in order to change an election. You can discourage people from voting at all. You can send rain to keep people from the polls. You can make cars break down. You can make voting machines malfunction. You can cause damaging news about candidates to be released. Third, free will is way overrated. Our sovereignty over ourselves is very limited. If you think free will is inviolable, ask a recovered crackhead what he thinks. Ask him why free will didn’t prevent him from becoming addicted, and from using crack even after he tried to change. The truth is, people yield to persuasion and temptation, regardless of free will. And sometimes external influences (including God’s) are so powerful, it is almost as though free will did not exist. Think of Pharaoh, whose heart was hardened by God himself.

So, yes, it makes sense to pray that God will change the outcomes of elections. And it makes sense to pray that God will change people’s ways, and that he will help you to be good.

I am thinking about this because I read Psalm 119 this morning. It’s a whopper. In my King James it runs several pages. I had heard that Psalm 119 somehow summarized all the psalms, and I wanted to see for myself. I didn’t see it, but I did notice this: the psalmist kept asking God to help him refrain from sinning. He didn’t say, “I have free will, so let me fix it myself.”

Here are some excerpts.

10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.

28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.

35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.

93 I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me.

94 I am thine, save me: for I have sought thy precepts.

95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I will consider thy testimonies.

132 Look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, as thou usest to do unto those that love thy name.

133 Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

For that matter, Jesus told us to pray that we would not be tempted. Why did he do that? He could have said, “You have free will, so don’t ever sin, regardless of temptation.” Obviously he did it because he knew that even good people are subject to influence.

The above verses also underscore the importance of memorizing scripture. The psalm talks a great deal about learning God’s law and word and testimonies.

I remember studying physics. Instructors always said it was bad to memorize laws and equations. They were completely wrong. When these things are imbedded in your mind, they are available for use at all times. You understand them more deeply. It’s easier to apply them, because your conscious mind is like a box with a limited capacity, and you can only hold so many things in it at once. If you’re thinking about quantities and measurements while you’re also trying to keep a complicated equation in mind, you will not think as well as a person who has the equation memorized. Doing physics with equations you haven’t memorized is like trying to speak French out of a dictionary and grammar book, without putting the words and rules in your heart.

The Bible is the same way. It’s good to run to it and open it when you need information. But it’s better to have the information inside you, so it comes to mind instantly. Many Christians call this “the sword of the Spirit.” Satan comes to you with a problem, and you remember an applicable verse, and you pull it out and throw it at him, and you win. This is what happened when Jesus was tempted in the desert. Satan told him to turn rocks into bread, and Jesus remembered his scripture: “It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3.) Satan finally started using scripture, himself. He told Jesus to jump off the temple, saying, “For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psalm 91:11). Jesus responded, “It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Deuteronomy 6:16).

If you read the Bible a lot, you’ll find that it has the answers to many modern questions. For example, convenience abortion is very clearly wrong. John the Baptist moved in his mother’s womb when Mary approached (Luke 1:44). And the Bible speaks of God consecrating a prophet who is yet in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5).

I know abortion supporters will claim I am citing “talking points,” but I came up with these citations all by myself, on the spur of the moment. I simply thought about the issue, and they came to mind.

One of the unfortunate things about Christianity is that we cheapen it by making it an easy religion, involving no study. It will probably never be as cerebral as Judaism, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t learn as much as we can, and try to understand.

I used to know a little bit about the Bible, but when I stopped going to church and fell away, I forgot a great deal. I see now how I cheated myself.

Anyway, don’t let anyone tell you free will is the whole story. God is a motivator and persuader.