A Very Weird & Unscriptural Prayer Point.

 

A Very Weird & Unscriptural Prayer Point.

Where Preferred Outcomes & Not God's Will Is The Center Of Prayer.

Weird & unscriptural prayer points arise & abound where the heart in prayer is set on & obsessed with preferred, desired outcomes & results than the will of God.

Recently I came across the following strange prayer point👇🏽

"What stopped James came to stop Peter. What hindered James came to hinder Peter.

What killed James will not kill me!

I am not James!"

This is a prayer point raised on a popular online christian program that many stay awake to connect to.

What a prayer point!

The fact that someone quotes scripture or reads the Bible and raises a prayer point does not mean that the prayer point is scriptural.

Sad to see how preachers/christians void of understanding turn biblical narratives into unscriptural prayer points. “What killed James will not kill me! I am not James!” That's a very weird prayer point for anyone who knows the truth of Scripture!

It is clearly not a prayer point established by Scripture for it takes two different outcomes in Acts 12 and turns them into a formula for personal exemption from suffering.

Let us examine it carefully.

What does Acts 12 actually say?

Vs 1 "At that time Herod the king laid his hands on some of those of the assembly to hurt them"

Herod's persecution was directed against some members of the church, not necessarily James alone.

Then in verse 2 James the apostle, the brother of John is prominently & particularly mentioned as killed by Herod with the sword.

Verse 3 continues...

“And seeing that it was pleasing to the Jews, he went on to take Peter also"

But when Peter was imprisoned, God miraculously delivered him (Acts 12:5-11).

Notice what the passage does not say. It does not say that James was killed because he lacked faith or because the church was not given to prayer neither does it say that Peter escaped because he had faith and prayed a better prayer, or that Christians should declare themselves exempt from James's experience.

The assumption that James was killed by Herod because the church failed to pray while Peter was saved/delivered from being killed because the church prayed fervently for him, is an old error that has been taught by some preachers who read their own thoughts into scripture, making scripture say what it never said.

Scripture never said, implied or suggested that James was killed due to the failure of the church to pray.

We cannot assume that it was due to lack of prayers for earlier in the book of Acts we see the apostles themselves wholly devoted to prayer such that they would not allow serving tables distract them but gave themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word - Acts 6:2-4. 

Now James 5:16 says the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous avails much or makes much power available, thus the prayers of the apostles should have been enough to save James even if the rest of the church were not praying.

If anyone would want to insist that it was lack of prayers that led to the death of James, what about Stephen who was stoned to death even before Herod killed James, should we also assume he was stoned to death because the church was not praying? Even his death came on the heels of the apostles giving themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the word.

The passage in Acts 12 records two historical outcomes; it does not establish a formula for guaranteeing the same outcome as Peter.

“I am not James” what this declaration implies is that being James or sharing the same fate as James, is evil.

James was an apostle of Jesus Christ. Peter was also an apostle of Jesus Christ. Both belonged to the Lord, both served His purpose, and both faced persecution.

What biblical grounds do we have for treating James's death as some evil to be rejected while claiming Peter's deliverance as the outcome we are entitled to?

Jesus Himself told His disciples:

 “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33.

He did not promise that every disciple would escape persecution or physical death.

Stephen died preaching the gospel, he was stoned to death for the sake of the message of Christ.

A christian who prays such weird prayer points can also pray saying: "I am not Stephen, what killed Stephen will not kill me". That means I will not die preaching the gospel or I will not die for the sake of the gospel of Christ.

Paul likewise desired to magnify Christ in his body, “whether it be by life, or by death” (Philippians 1:20).

The Christian's ultimate victory is therefore not defined exclusively by surviving every earthly threat.

Does God deliver believers from danger? Yes!

It is entirely scriptural to pray for protection, healing, deliverance from wicked people, and preservation from danger (Matthew 6:13; 2nd Thessalonians 3:2).

The problem arises when we take a particular instance of divine deliverance and turn it into a guarantee that we will never experience what another believer experienced.

God delivered Peter from prison, but Peter's deliverance did not mean that he could never be imprisoned, persecuted, or killed. Later in life, he was also apprehended and killed/martyred like James.

The deeper problem: Using Scripture to manufacture assurances that Scripture itself never gives.

Making Peter's experience of deliverance become a universal promise to every Christian. A false gospel manufactures hopes & preferred outcomes men desire, contrary to the holistic truth of scripture. When men are established in such hopes, any outcome outside it, is considered not of God.

We cannot claim Peter's deliverance as a universal promise for every believer while treating James's death as an evil outcome that faith must always reject or prevent.

What, then, should a Christian pray?

A Christian can confidently pray:

Lord, deliver me from the hands of wicked people. Preserve my life according to Your will.

Give me wisdom to avoid danger and courage to remain faithful under persecution. Let Christ be glorified in my life, whether through my living or my dying.

These prayers recognise both God's power to deliver and His sovereignty over the circumstances of our lives.

Remember Paul's words in Romans 14:8 👇🏽

 “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's"

Whether James died under Herod's persecution, he died unto the Lord and whether Peter survived/lived, he lived unto the Lord. Whether James or Peter, both are the Lord's.

That is a far more comprehensive Christian outlook than assuming that faith guarantees escape from every danger.

In conclusion, James was killed by Herod, but Peter was delivered from Herod's prison. The same persecution met two different outcomes. Therefore, we must not turn God's deliverance of one believer into a formula for every believer, nor interpret another believer's suffering/fate as evidence of spiritual failure.