Star Wars, Gold Bars, and the Prayer of Faith
In reflecting about prayer recently, I was again reminded of a truth about having faith that I would like to illustrate to you.
In the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Jedi Master Yoda is training Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi and use the Force. If you have watched any of the Star Wars movies, you'll remember that the Force is the impersonal, omnipresent life force that ties the universe together, and those who are Jedi (whether light or dark) have learned to connect with the Force and use it for good or evil. Now, please understand me: I do not wish to compare or liken God to the Force; God is not impersonal or neutral, but a personal, living being who loves us and desires to be in relationship with us; God is completely good, and all evil opposes Him, and evil is not equal to good, but good always triumphs over evil in the end (unlike the Light Side and Dark Side of the Force, which mirror each other and both always exist).
I do think, however, that using the Force as it is portrayed in the movies has some interesting parallels to praying in faith. When Yoda is training Luke, he keeps giving Luke what Luke thinks are more difficult Force tasks, like moving small objects and even several at a time. Then as Luke is nearing the end of his training, his X-Wing Fighter sinks even deeper into the swamp where it crash landed. Luke sees it sinking and bemoans that he'll never be able to get it out. Yoda challenges Luke's belief that it can't be done, and Luke says it's not the same as moving stones. He says that he'll try, to which Yoda says, "Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try." Luke "tries" and budges the ship a little, but it sinks back down again, and Luke resigns by saying that he can't, it's too big. Yoda exhorts Luke on the power of the Force, then proceeds to, with relative ease, levitate the ship out of the swamp onto dry ground. Luke says that he doesn't believe it, and Yoda responds, "That is why you fail."
Yoda is really talking about faith. Like Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Yoda was certain that the Force was bigger than any physical object. How much more, then, should we believe in God's ability to affect every part of our world, both physical and otherwise? Just like Yoda was of dimunitive stature, it is not our stature that determines how much God will use us or whether our prayers will be answered. Instead, it is our willingness to pray and believe God. There is no trying with prayer. You either pray about something, or you don't. If we understand God's power and ability just a little bit, we have no business believing that He can do some things and not others. You may say that He is able to do all things, but do you really pray like He is? Faith for God to do the "little things" is still faith. For example, believing that God can heal a head cold, but not cancer, if kind of like saying He can pick up a penny, but not a bar of gold. All things are small to Him.
I don't mean to diminish the fact that we have psychological barriers, things that make it difficult to believe God can do "big things." Perhaps you have never experienced or heard firsthand of someone being healed. Don't let that stop you from praying. Start with the "small things." Like James says, "The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise Him up" (5:15). Pray for head colds, headaches, insomnia, and whatever else afflicts people. Then when "bigger" things come along to be prayed for, don't shy away from them. It is true that there are reasons God doesn't always heal people and answer prayer the way they would like, reasons that I'm not going to get into right now. But I'd much rather pray and believe God, and see Him do more things, than to not pray at all.
In the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Jedi Master Yoda is training Luke Skywalker to be a Jedi and use the Force. If you have watched any of the Star Wars movies, you'll remember that the Force is the impersonal, omnipresent life force that ties the universe together, and those who are Jedi (whether light or dark) have learned to connect with the Force and use it for good or evil. Now, please understand me: I do not wish to compare or liken God to the Force; God is not impersonal or neutral, but a personal, living being who loves us and desires to be in relationship with us; God is completely good, and all evil opposes Him, and evil is not equal to good, but good always triumphs over evil in the end (unlike the Light Side and Dark Side of the Force, which mirror each other and both always exist).
I do think, however, that using the Force as it is portrayed in the movies has some interesting parallels to praying in faith. When Yoda is training Luke, he keeps giving Luke what Luke thinks are more difficult Force tasks, like moving small objects and even several at a time. Then as Luke is nearing the end of his training, his X-Wing Fighter sinks even deeper into the swamp where it crash landed. Luke sees it sinking and bemoans that he'll never be able to get it out. Yoda challenges Luke's belief that it can't be done, and Luke says it's not the same as moving stones. He says that he'll try, to which Yoda says, "Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try." Luke "tries" and budges the ship a little, but it sinks back down again, and Luke resigns by saying that he can't, it's too big. Yoda exhorts Luke on the power of the Force, then proceeds to, with relative ease, levitate the ship out of the swamp onto dry ground. Luke says that he doesn't believe it, and Yoda responds, "That is why you fail."
Yoda is really talking about faith. Like Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Yoda was certain that the Force was bigger than any physical object. How much more, then, should we believe in God's ability to affect every part of our world, both physical and otherwise? Just like Yoda was of dimunitive stature, it is not our stature that determines how much God will use us or whether our prayers will be answered. Instead, it is our willingness to pray and believe God. There is no trying with prayer. You either pray about something, or you don't. If we understand God's power and ability just a little bit, we have no business believing that He can do some things and not others. You may say that He is able to do all things, but do you really pray like He is? Faith for God to do the "little things" is still faith. For example, believing that God can heal a head cold, but not cancer, if kind of like saying He can pick up a penny, but not a bar of gold. All things are small to Him.
I don't mean to diminish the fact that we have psychological barriers, things that make it difficult to believe God can do "big things." Perhaps you have never experienced or heard firsthand of someone being healed. Don't let that stop you from praying. Start with the "small things." Like James says, "The prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise Him up" (5:15). Pray for head colds, headaches, insomnia, and whatever else afflicts people. Then when "bigger" things come along to be prayed for, don't shy away from them. It is true that there are reasons God doesn't always heal people and answer prayer the way they would like, reasons that I'm not going to get into right now. But I'd much rather pray and believe God, and see Him do more things, than to not pray at all.
posted by Luke at 11:28 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home