Beyond Opinion

One of the books I was reading when we were still in Mexico was Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias. You might know that he and his ministry team are leading apologists who offer reasonable, biblical and logical explanations to those who question or even attack the Christian faith. In the midst of this intellectual dissertation Ravi reminds us of the powerful importance of prayer.

“A few years ago, two or three of my colleagues and I were in a country dominated for decades by Marxism. Before we began our meetings, we were invited to a dinner by some common friends, all of whom were skeptics and, for all practical purposes, atheists. The evening was full of questions, posed principally by a notable theoretical physicist in the country. There were also others who represented different elements of power within that society. As the night wore on, we got the feeling that the questions had gone on long enough and that we were possibly going in circles.

“At that point, I asked, if we could have a word of prayer with them, for them, and for the country before we bade them good-bye. There was a silence of consternation, and obvious hesitancy, and then one said, ‘Of course.’ We did just that – we prayed. In this large dining room of historic importance to them, with all the memories of secular power plastered within those walls, the prayer brought a sobering silence that we were all in the presence of someone greater than us. When we finished, every eye was moist and nothing was said. They hugged us and thanked us, with emotion written all over their faces. The next day when we met them, one of them said to me, ‘We did not go back to our rooms last night till it was early morning. In fact, I stayed in my hotel lobby most of the night talking further. Then I went back to my room and gave my life to Jesus Christ.’

“I firmly believe that it was the prayer that gave them a hint of what worship is all about. Their hearts had never experienced it. Over the years I have discovered that praying with people can sometimes do more for them than preaching to them. Prayer draws the heart away from one’s own dependence to leaning on the sovereign God. The burden is often lifted instantly. Prayer is only one aspect of worship, but one that is greatly neglected in the face of people who would be shocked to hear what prayer sounds like when the one praying knows how to touch the heart of God. To a person in need, pat answers don’t change the mind; prayer does.”