16 July 2012

I prayed about it

Ed Welch addresses how to respond to people who say "I prayed about it" to justify sinful behavior.  I have had these conversations with people, and they are not easy.  He writes,

Things are not so innocuous in the adult version. “I prayed about it,” adult-style, is invoked when Scripture clearly teaches one thing and the person wants to do another. For example, a Christian woman is (somehow!) granted that coveted spiritual exception to marry an unbeliever. When challenged by her friends, she says: “I prayed about it.” Or another follower of Christ is startled to hear the Spirit say a resounding “YES, you can move in with your girlfriend,” or “YES, you can leave your spouse, because, after all, I want you to be happy.”

What “God” are these people praying to? This perverse, self-deceived foolishness is apparent to everyone except the person involved. How can we respond?

Read the rest here.  

1 comment:

mrbumby said...

In my experience, "I prayed about it" doesn't necessarily justify sinful behavior. I find it's most often used to remove responsibility from the actor and shifting it to God, essentially stating whatever action was God's not the actors.

For example:
Young child: "Dad, I want to quit piano."
Dad: "Well, I prayed about it, and I think God really wants you to understand the importance of sticking with things you don't like."

While not allowing a child to stop taking piano lessons is certainly no sin, passing the buck to God is certainly not admirable.