{"id":69452,"date":"2020-02-02T22:45:47","date_gmt":"2020-02-02T20:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=69452"},"modified":"2023-08-27T15:34:28","modified_gmt":"2023-08-27T12:34:28","slug":"its-not-about-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/its-not-about-god\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Not About God"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384,466,437],"acf":{"old_id":"69452","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"407","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Thoughts on the people's intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation\r\n\r\n","content":"

\u201cWhy does God need our prayers?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been asked this question numerous times by adolescents who either just don\u2019t feel like reciting ancient liturgy or maybe are truly troubled by the philosophical issue. If God is perfect, why does He care what we do? More, isn\u2019t it a little much for Him to demand that we tell Him how great He is? He doesn\u2019t need it, and it seems beneath Him to want it!<\/span><\/p>\n

Good questions.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a sense, God raises the same issue Himself in Jeremiah chapter 7 \u2013 not about prayer, but about general conduct that may not match His demands.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Is it Me they are vexing?\u2019 says the LORD. \u2018It is rather themselves, to their own disgrace.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

No, God says, human sins don\u2019t really anger Him; they don\u2019t affect Him in any way. But they affect us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Back to prayer: I once read a fantasy series in which a high premium was placed on taking blood oaths to a monarch. For much of the series, I thought it was weird: why were these characters so desperate to attach themselves to another person? Especially as I saw the negative reasons behind some of these oaths: individuals tricked into swearing themselves to an evil queen, or so depressed that handing their lives over to another (even if they knew she was evil) seemed like an excellent escape.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I read on, however, I came to appreciate the deep longing of several characters to attach themselves to another queen, whose kingdom was described as \u201ca beacon of light and learning.\u201d I came to appreciate their wish to add meaning to their lives by declaring dedication to the good represented by that kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

I came to see that blood oath as a metaphor for prayer \u2013 an opportunity to proclaim oneself devoted, entirely and perhaps (though without magical compulsion) irrevocably, to the ultimate Good, the ultimate Beacon of light and learning.<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the queens in the book benefited from the oath, God isn\u2019t affected by our prayers \u2013 but we are. We stand taller and prouder, having attached ourselves to what we respect most highly.<\/span><\/p>\n

And returning now to Jeremiah: The prophet points out that injunctions against idolatry and other sins are not truly about God, but about the people. God may do angry things (as in verse 20), but He isn\u2019t really angry; they haven\u2019t hurt Him. It\u2019s the people themselves who suffer when they engage in behavior that is beneath them, shaming themselves with atrocities like theft and murder (verse 9) and displays in honor of other gods (verse 18) when they could instead have raised themselves up to be better, to connect with something greater.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps it is confusion about this very point that is the problem \u2013 similar, in a way, to modern distinctions between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Perhaps the threat of God\u2019s anger just isn\u2019t enough to motivate change, while if his people could only appreciate the intrinsic value of goodness, Jeremiah\u2019s job would be much easier.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69453,"id":69453,"title":"jer7-crowd","filename":"jer7-crowd.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/jer7-crowd.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/its-not-about-god\/jer7-crowd\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jer7-crowd","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69452,"date":"2020-02-02 20:45:24","modified":"2021-10-04 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