Don't Mock Prayer. Pray

While the unspeakable massacre in a small church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, brought the best out of people there, it triggered the worst in certain others who see everything through their tainted political lenses.

House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted: "Reports out of Texas are devastating. The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now."

Leftist screamer Keith Olbermann responded, "Speaker Ryan, bluntly: shove your prayers up your a-- AND DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE BESIDES PLATITUDES AND POWER GRABS."

It wasn't just Olbermann. Another God hater exclaimed: "They were in church. They had the prayers shot right out of them. Maybe try something else." Another said: "The murdered victims were in a church. If prayers did anything, they'd still be alive, you worthless sack of s---."

Mass shootings invariably enrage militant gun control zealots at Second Amendment supporters, who they see as the repository of evil, and perhaps more responsible for these massacres than the gunmen themselves. I wish I were exaggerating.

Some of my favorite leftist Twitter stalkers ridiculed me for defending Ryan, expressing their contempt for Christians who call for prayer after these tragedies. When challenged, they insist they are mainly outraged that we won't take "real" action to stop the killings.

But we don't oppose reasonable restrictions designed to protect society from the evil and the insane -- the kind that were already in place but not implemented in the case of the wife-abusing, God-hating perpetrator Devin Patrick Kelley.

Christians don't use prayer as an excuse for inaction. We don't believe our petitions to the Almighty relieve us of our duty to do good works. Christian theologian James Montgomery Boice said, "A strong prayer life is not the least bit inconsistent with vigorous and fervent service for the Lord. ... Prayer warriors are needed. But this does not mean that those who are active in Christian work (or any kind of work) do not also need to be strong in praying for God's direction and blessing."

Truth be told, the critics aren't wrestling with such philosophical questions, and they aren't calling for just any action. No. The only actions that will satisfy them are extreme gun control measures, which they wrongly believe will prevent these shootings.

In their anger, they lash out at prayer and God, mainly because they associate prayer with the type of person who blocks their gun-grabbing crusade.

Many have already answered their fallacious gun control arguments, so I want to briefly address their mocking of prayer.

In their tweets, you feel their rage at the God they deny exists. You sense their sneering hostility at the supposed futility of prayer, and their fury regarding their conceited assumption that Christians are only offering their "thoughts and prayers" to dodge the moral imperative of gun control.

Can they really misunderstand us that much? Do they think we believe we're off the hook if we throw up a few insincere sound bites to the God we actually believe in -- and fear (revere and respect)? Heaven help us if that's what we're about.

Why would we pray to an omniscient, sovereign God who knows our requests before we think them? Foremost, it's a matter of obedience. God commands us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17; Colossians 4:2). Scripture tells us that God listens to our prayers (Psalm 139:1-4; 1 Kings 8:52) and responds to them. James 5:16 reads in part, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." In fact, we'll fail to receive certain things simply by not asking for them (James 4:2).

Besides, prayer is not simply a one-way communication -- a series of petitions to an omnipotent God with the expectation that He'll grant our wishes like a genie from a bottle. In prayer, we are conversing with the God of the universe to whom we have instant access. Yes, we ask God for things, but we also pray to express adoration to Him, to confess our sins, to seek His guidance, to praise Him and to give Him thanks.

But we can't expect that He will grant every request. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if billions of imperfect people were to have their contradictory prayers answered by an omniscient, omnipotent God? We should remember that we must pray in accordance with God's will -- a will that we can't always perfectly discern.

Our triune God is relational and models His loving relationship for His church. Accordingly, Christians rightly believe that prayer strengthens the Christian community, and that with prayer there is power in numbers. Few things exhibit the spirit of Christ like congregations of believers lovingly praying for one another.

If you believe prayer is a pointless exercise, perhaps you'll sober up when you recall that Jesus Christ Himself, God Incarnate, continually prayed to the Father and directed us to do the same.

In fact, at the time of His greatest distress, before His imminent crucifixion, Jesus selflessly prayed for His people. One of the most moving passages of Scripture is the high priestly prayer related in John 17:1-26. In His spiritual agony, Jesus anticipated the Father's separation and wrath for his substitutionary sacrifice for mankind's sins; nevertheless, he pleaded with the Father for our joy, and for the Father to protect us from the evil one. He asked that we all be united as one, just as the Father and Son are united as one. "I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one."

Of course we must pray for those suffering among us. Only God knows precisely what they need. We are encouraged and mutually lifted up by one another's faith and prayers. As the Apostle Paul told the Romans, "I remember you in my prayers at all times ... that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith."

How about a little less pride and cynicism, and a little more faith and prayer as we confront these horrible human and societal evils?

Let’s face it. Those who would criticize the prayers of believers want no boundaries on the spread of hedonism. They have no sense of the spiritual world which has touched the lives of Christians. They have no knowledge of the miracles that we see and know of through the prayers of God’s people. Does God spare us trouble in this world? Did He spare His own Son? No. Because, the gospel has been spread across the world through martyrdom. Our God does not give us strength in reserve in order that we might have a comfy life in this world. He gives us strength as we need it. The Scriptures tell us that in this world we will have trouble but that He, the Christ, came to overcome the world and it’s suffering. The great thing about Christianity is that we are told to love those that hate us and to do good to those who would harm us. It is the most difficult thing that we are called to do, but, most of us pray for our enemies every day and, believe me, they are legion in 2017. I almost sense that some of them feel glee that those innocents gunned down by the God hater. Hope I am wrong.

Gee WWSS?
What would Satan say.

Would he mock prayer? God? Would he mock and dehumanize the babies children and women eho were shot multiple times point blank by a deranged atheist? Would he blame them for inviting violent death by being families in a demographic of responsible citizens who the Second Amendment was intended to protect?

Yes. He would. Nothing subtle about shrieking contempt for prayer for dead and injured Christians.

Gee, I think his followers are revealing themselves

I wonder just what are the beliefs and political affiliations of the person(s) who had the ability to mark this guys military exit file properly but chose to take the easier route?

Maybe all these screaming heads would be silent if they saw it was one of their own who left this man to be able to do this horrible act years later.

All battles are spiritual at their root. Most people only see or consider the natural.

They mock prayers? What do they want? Action? Like a civil war and shooting all democrats?

Stupid liberals will get their prayers for action from ISIS. I almost feel like chalking it up to a branch of God liberals want to see to eliminate atheists, to give liberals what they want, ie a god Allah without God in the equation exacting mayhem.

David Limbaugh is a brilliant writer and this column is no exception. On a side note: It's interesting how in recent history the Left seems to deem "it's time" and go all out on a subject after certain events.

After this shooting by a deranged Christian-hating atheist activist they decided "it's time" to go all out and attack Christianity and prayer with contrived outrage to signal their own virtue.

Irony abounds.

The vile God haters know where they are going, even though they deny it. They are simply trying to take as many others with them as they can. Misery loves company.

Repent or Perish

1Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

"Speaker Ryan, bluntly: shove your prayers up your a-- AND DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR LIFE BESIDES PLATITUDES AND POWER GRABS."

Substitute Ryan for Pelosi, Schumer, Hillary, Jackson, Sharpton, et al and the sentence works just as well. No public official that says stuff like this means it. It's boilerplate.

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