Wednesday 12 February 2014

Weather watch: we all can pray

In mid-February 2014 the UK seems to have woken up to the fact that the effects of ongoing extreme weather events amount to a national emergency and are not just a small local crisis. Floods and coastal storms have destroyed homes, devastated livelihoods, and decimated the infrastructure.

Those of us less affected watch the TV footage with a sense of helplessness. A few volunteers have travelled to assist with the rescue and rebuilding work. But there is no Disasters Emergency Committee appeal for funds; the government has promised its own funding although how adequate that is remains to be seen. So we can’t even donate cash.

But there is one thing everyone can do: pray. It sounds trivial, impractical. It’s certainly not meant to minimise the trauma experienced by many people. They deserve the wholehearted support, care – and prayer – of the rest of us.

There is enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that prayer can make a difference. People facing difficulty who know that others are praying for them will sometimes say that they have felt carried through and supported in their crises. It’s something all can offer.

The good that prayer does

The Bible is clear that prayer does not immunise us against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. Trouble can hit anyone, of faith or no faith. The weather is no respecter of persons. Nor does prayer offer an instant or easy way out of difficulty. It won’t dry soaked carpets or restore damaged railway tracks. So what good does it do?

Fundamentally, prayer seems to dredge the channels through which God’s Spirit flows to work in the world. In the current circumstances, this is what is needed. Victims need God’s help to keep going; agencies need God’s wisdom to tackle complex issues. There’s a prayer below if you find it hard to know quite what to say to God.

“Intercession is not a technique for changing God’s mind, but it is a releasing of power as we place ourselves in a relationship of co-operation with God…Prayer is action, because God’s energy is released into a situation. Prayer leads to action because we cannot with integrity pray for something which we are not also prepared to do something about.”1 

We’ll come back to that last sentence later. But prayer can have other effects too. It aligns us with God’s purposes and opens us to discover them more clearly; you can’t pray “your will be done” and then not respond to some fresh understanding of God’s will.

Prayer transfers our anxieties and concerns to one who is better placed to discern the wood from the trees. It makes us more receptive to his help as we negotiate the path ahead.

It is also an expression of our human frailty and limited abilities. We’re all control freaks at heart but we can’t control everything. Stuff happens. Confessing our weakness (especially in the face of the elements) can lead to a greater respect for, trust in, and dependence on, God. Currently, our corporate pride has been punctured. Spiritual health is often improved by a dose of humility.

And finally, we can ask God to bring an end to the battering. There are biblical examples of prayer related to weather extremes. He is, after all, the creator and sustainer of all that is. Part of that prayer, of course, is to seek forgiveness for the part the human race has played in exacerbating the fury of natural forces and our casual approach to minimising their effects.

A time to ask questions

Not “why does God allow suffering?” – it’s endemic in life as we now know it – but rather “is God trying to tell us something?” through recent events. You can’t link floods and tempest to specific actions, as one foolish politician tried to do by saying they’re God’s punishment for allowing gay marriage. He seems to have overlooked the fact that extreme weather events this winter have not been restricted to the UK; in January there was the polar vortex which crippled the US while intense heat suffocated Australia.

But you can link extreme weather to three wider actions. One is our unrelenting contribution to global warming which has been known for decades to disturb weather patterns and trigger extreme events. Governments have been tardy, to say the least, in committing to and legislating for a reduction in greenhouse gases.

Another is our management of land, especially as we pave over natural rainfall catchment areas so that there is greater or faster run-off into rivers. And a third is the short-termism of modern government which rarely looks beyond the next election, and of modern commerce which rarely looks beyond next year’s profits. Flood and coastal defences should have had, and indeed now must have, the sort of long-term investment that goes into (say) the armed forces whose government-sponsored selective sorties into foreign lands don’t always seem to be in the best interests of ordinary people.

But that too is a matter for prayer. “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may lead peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

A prayer

Almighty God, we bring to you those people whose lives, homes and jobs have been devastated by recent weather. We ask that you will help them not to lose heart, to keep faith, and to draw on the power and guidance of your Spirit as they deal with the aftermath. May they know even in their darkest moments that your love has not deserted them. Fill with compassion and wisdom those who are in a position to help: the staff of insurance companies, banks, shops and suppliers, the statutory and voluntary agencies, emergency services, military teams, commercial businesses, churches and community groups as they each lend resources and personnel to deal with the short term alleviation of suffering and the long-term rebuilding of homes, livelihoods, and infrastructures. Grant all of us a spirit of generosity and care, a willingness to give and not to count the cost, as we seek to serve you and your Kingdom by serving others who are in need. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Think and talk

1.  Just pray for people suffering from the latest calamities. Imagine yourself in their shoes and ask God to do what you would want in that situation. And pray for all the agencies and groups trying to help them: they need energy, stamina, wisdom and compassion.

2.  Look at the thoughts in “A time to ask questions” above. What can you do personally, and how should we be urging government to act, to deal with the long-term issues?

3.  Look at James 5:17,18; 1 Kings 8:35-40. We can pray for God to alter the weather. But what are the conditions for such prayer being responded to positively?

Reference
1.  Stephen Cottrell, Praying through life, Church House Publishing 2003, p.28