Tuesday Prayer: 31

This is the 31st 'Tuesday Prayer' post. I've been recently reading a little bit of Karl Barth, mainly for my dissertation, but also on the topic of prayer. The question is often asked, regarding prayer, whether it changes God or changes us. I think Barth's answer, or engagement with, that question, is fascinating;

“The fact that God yields to human petitions, that he alters his intentions and follows the bent of our prayers, is not a sign of weakness. In his own majesty and in the splendour of his might, he has willed and yet wills it so. He desires to be the God who has been made flesh in Jesus Christ. Therein lies his glory, his omnipotence. He does not then impair himself by yielding to our prayer; on the contrary, it is in doing so that he shows his greatness”

I have a lot of time for the work and witness of Karl Barth, and I found this to be a really thought-provoking discussion of prayer. The question over whether or not (or how) God changes his mind is secondary to the question of who God is - and for Barth, as ever, God is made flesh in Jesus Christ. It is here, in the Incarnation and all that that implies, that we see who God is. Prayer flows in and out of that, in and out of Christ. 

I think this is really powerful - that God is greater than our conception of him, and even our prayers are accommodated by his gracious and powerful will. Ultimately, though, it is always beautiful and true to read of Christ, whom Barth proclaims so powerfully. I enjoyed reading this quote - but what did you think? Let me know in the comments.

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Don't forget to check out the previous posts in the series, featuring quotes from Tom Wright, John Wimber, Richard Foster and Don Carson, the great J. C. Ryle and theologians Alister McGrath and James K. A. Smith. Since then, I've shared quotes from Justin Welby, E.M. Bounds, Vineyard Pastor Ken Wilson, C. S. Lewis,  O'Hallesby, Paul Miller, John Piper. Recently, we've heard Matthew Henry, Charles Finney, Andrew Murray, Tim Chester, Vaughan Roberts, Oliver O'Donovan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and John Bunyan. Recently we got rather retro, with qutoes John Chrysostom and Tertullian, before returning to more recent thinkers with Rowan Williams, Mike Reeves and Peter Jackson and Chris Wright and Andrew Case, and R. C. Sproul. Last week, representing a slight change of tack, was the Westminster Confession.