On December
2nd 1804, Napoleon was to be crowned the emperor of France. The ceremony was held in the famous Notre Dame
Cathedral and the official crowning was to be done by Pope Pious the 7th.
In a blending the French traditions with
ancient Rome pageantry, the Pope was to place the crown on Napoleon’s head and
by his authority declare Napoleon the emperor, but at the moment of the
crowning, Napoleon unexpectedly turned and, forestalling the Pope, crowned
himself. His message was a subtle but direct statement.
He was the greater authority; no one was
giving him the crown. He was taking it.
This event came to my mind as I happened
passed a religious program on the television. The host of the show was leading a prayer for
people that were suffering illness. As
he listed each malady one at a time, he said, “and it will be gone now!” His prayer sounded less like a request and more
like a command. It seems to me to be an
awful presumptuous way to approach God. Much like Napoleon, he saw God's intervention as
something he should dictate rather than to have bestowed on him and others.
I don’t think
this fellow is alone in that attitude toward prayer. People talk about the power of prayer and
speak of praying as if it has the power[*].
Prayer doesn’t have power, God does. He
decides how and when he should act, not us.
God is not some giant genie that
if we use the right magic words, we can call up and control to do our bidding. We are not the ones in authority, he is.
It is unbelievable
thing that the God of the heavens, the King of King, the Creator of the universe would even acknowledge us, much
less, hear, care and grant our needs(Psalm 8:4). That he does should be amazing to us, not commonplace. We shouldn’t act as if we control God and deserve
what he blesses us with. The crown of his
blessing isn’t something we should demand for and take ourselves. We must humble ourselves before God.
Every one of us
will bow before him (Romans 14:11). He is not the King because we make him out
to be one; he stands above us with all authority. He is the King, we are his
subjects. His love and concern doesn’t give us a right to treat him with any
less respect. God is the one in authority and control; we need to remember that
before we ask anything of him (Ecclesiastes 5:2)
[*]
Have you noticed how it is still politically correct to speak about prayer but not
so much to talk about God.
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