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This is the final blog in a mini-series exploring questions raised by President Trump’s declaration of a national Day of Prayer in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Just a few weeks later the number of cases increased until the USA had more than anywhere else in the world. Does this mean that God doesn’t listen to prayer or that He couldn’t answer prayer? Is this a challenge to the Christian faith? The crux of the matter is that the Christian God has not promised to listen and respond to all  our prayers, like a genie in a lamp. True prayer requires childlike humility expressed by faith in Jesus Christ rather than spiritual self-confidence. Like a good father, God is free to give the answers “no”, “wait”, or “this is better” as well as “yes” and He doesn’t have to explain why. In fact, if we take seriously what the Bible says about God it is clear that we could never understand fully even if He did explain. However much we grasp it is always a little bit more complicated t...

Let’s assume, for the sake or argument, that Trump is a man with real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who is following the Bible’s command to humble himself in calling the United States to pray. There is much in the media portrayal of the man that might cause us to question that but ultimately only God can judge his heart. So for the sake of argument, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt. The Christian God is not a genie or a vending machine who is obliged to listen to every prayer. We can go further than that and say that He is not obliged to answer every prayer in the way we expect. To illustrate this think about a parent with a nagging child. When children ask for things they really need - like food, water, or rest - a good parent is only too happy to provide. There are occasions when children ask for things that would be harmful - to drive the car, play with dad’s chainsaw, or parachute off the roof with an umbrella - and a parent has to say “NO!” But there are other oc...

The Christian  God is not a genie who will answer our demands just because we go through the motions of praying. God is not a mechanical vending machine in the sky. There is nothing ‘automatic’ about calling for a Day of Prayer. We cannot judge President Trump’s heart but God can and it is up to Him to respond as He sees fit! This begs another question: why should God listen to any of our prayers? This is a really good way to explain one of the most important things Christians believe about prayer. You may not be so interested in that but I would ask you to stick with me because it is, in turn, essential in exploring how Christians understand the idea of a ‘Day of Prayer ’. One of the ways God is portrayed in the Bible is as a great King. If you have ever been to visit Buckingham Palace or the White House you know that tourists are kept at a safe distance by multiple layers of fences, walls, and well-armed security guards, both uniformed and in plain clothes. You ca...

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump announced a national day of prayer in America but it is not clear if or how God answered those prayers. What do we make of this ? Chatting it through whilst preparing to write this blog I received the tongue in cheek reply "Well, would you listen to him?" Joking aside there is a very good question implicit in this comment. Why should God listen to Donald Trump? Does calling a 'day of prayer' compel God to listen and do whatever people ask him? It is easy to imagine God as a vending machine: press the right religious buttons and put the right spiritual coins in and whatever we want falls into our laps. It is also easy to imagine God as a kind of genie in the sky: use your prayers to rub His lamp the right way and He pops up to give you your three wishes. Sadly, some people claiming to be Christians are deliberately encouraging this view of God promising that He always gives healing and prosperi...

In mid-March President of the USA Donald Trump called for a national day of prayer . By early April he was confident there was light at the end of the tunnel . Yet a BBC report dated 29th April states that "The United States alone has more than one million confirmed cases - four times as many as any other country". So what does this mean for religion? Was God able to answer but didn't? Was God unable to hear? Did God create the coronavirus? Should all this cause Christians to question their faith? These sincere questions, asked respectfully by an long-term friend who is not a Christian, have had me thinking hard for several days. Rather than attempt a single answer which could get quite lengthy, I hope to explore this over a few shorter blogs. I want to start by turning the whole thing inside out, on its head, and flipping it around ! Inside out: these are  very important questions. The existence of suffering is something for which every religion an...