Pray and work

This rather easy commandment carries a reality announcement. It is a description of the functioning of the world.

Work is the interaction among mind, body and matter, with something as a result.

Prayer is the interaction between mind and God, with something as a result.

Without work, only praying for result, we expect God to interfere with the laws of nature. We expect a miracle.

Without prayer, only working for result, we expect our knowledge and effort to be sufficient to reach our goals. We expect the laws of nature to function as observed.

Pray and work implies that both are needed.

• Prayer implies that result is given.
• Work implies that result is accomplished.

Men work with and within the laws of nature, God maintains and steers the laws of nature.

Gods interference is influenced by our prayer. As ‘a father who gives his son a bread when asked for, and not a stone’.

When our son doesn’t ask for his needs, it doesn’t mean we don’t see his needs. It doesn’t mean we don’t give what he tries to accomplish. But the absence of asking is the absence relationship.

We might even support our son with something we even don’t desire or don’t believe is good for our son, because he desires so. If we do so as parents, we cross our boundaries of patience and tolerance.

But as a father, besides waiting, we also feel the need to correct our son, both in purpose and relationship.

So does God. He not only waits for his ‘lost son’ to return, he also gives His Holy Spirit, in answer to believers prayers and gospel. The Spirit convinces of sin and need for Christ.

With conviciton, comes prayer.

With prayer, comes answer.

When answered, we experience a personal confirmation of the relationship between God and I. Although we cannot prove the interference of God in answer to our prayer (reality just unfolds itself), any reasoning about the absence of God is useless, from that moment on.

The deceiver has lost a soul.