God Sent a Squirrel: James 5, The Final Cut

The Finish. We finished up our Bible study of the Letter from James. As I have previously posted, I had some questions about prayer. Last night, I engaged in a mental or spiritual (if you will) exercise.

Henry Blackaby writes in Experiencing God, that God communicates “by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstance, and the church, to reveal himself, his purposes, and his ways.

My Conclusion. My logical conclusion is that if God is real since He wrote a book telling us to pray, prayer must be real. The only question, then is am I going to obey him and, if so, in what manner?

Our modern and typical view of prayer is that we should have a morning prayer time in which we pour out our hearts to God. Maybe, there are other ways to pray, perhaps at other times of the day, and perhaps, in different manners.

The letter from James is, if nothing else, an exhortation to living the Christian Life in an attitude of doing rather than thinking. If this be the case, perhaps doing the prayer is the same as bowing the knee and expressing the prayer. Perhaps this is in the same manner as Gary Chapman writes that there are different love languages. Some of us express love verbally while others express love through different sorts of activities. I wonder if the same applies to prayer?

Bearing the above in mind, and especially considering the prayer methods I enumerated in my last post (inter alia q.v.,) may I submit that the method of prayer is not the important thing. The great 20^th Century theologian-scholar Karl Barth was once asked by a woman at one of his lectures, “Professor Barth, did the snake really speak to Eve?” Barth replied coyly, “Madame, it’s not important whether the snake spoke. What’s important is that which the snake said.”

Likewise, It’s the act of prayer itself that is the important thing. It’s really not important to us how prayer works. It’s not even important what “works” means. What’s important is that we do pray. Every form of communication among people whether it is “pillow talk” between an intimate couple or semaphore wags between ships at sea, relies on an underlying relationship. I’ve often said and heard it said that “prayer is a communication” with God. Perhaps, I’d like to modify that a bit. “Prayer is the expression of a relationship with God.” May I submit that the deeper the prayer, the deeper the expression of the relationship; And the deeper the expression, the deeper the relationship.

Theologically speaking. To put it in theological terms, the 1648 Shorter Westminster Catechism gives as a guide the following:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him forever. [b]

[a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11

[b]. Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4

One cannot “enjoy” someone without having a relationship with that person. If one doesn’t have a relationship with another but derives some sort of “enjoyment” from that person, perhaps he is only “using” that person. I have already discussed in an earlier post how “using” a person robs him or her of their “personhood” and reduces that other person to an inanimate “thing.” God will neither be “used” nor “de-personified.” Eternally, He will maintain His personhood. Since God is most definitely a person, I suggest an a fortiori argument applies to Him.

The squirrel. I am now reduced from the divine argument to the ridiculous. God was revealing these thoughts to me (if you believe in that sort of thing) as I sat on my “prayer bench in my front yard. I was contemplating what I had said and wondering if I were merely spouting “religiobabble,” a term I used in the last post. I sat quietly on the bench just thinking. The yard was teeming with life: birds, trees rustling in the breeze, and squirrels chattering and chasing each other.

Presently, one of the squirrels stopped chasing and started walking up to me – very slowly. He looked me in the eye as he moved in. At first, I was somewhat afraid of this unusual behavior. Our squirrels are certainly accustomed to me and don’t typically pay much attention to me, though they keep a safe distance. But this squirrel was different. He was deliberately walking up to me. I wondered for a moment is he were rabid, but then I remembered my public health training that taught me that squirrels are rodents, and unlike mammals, they do not become infected with rabies -usually. Still, this was strange behavior.

The squirrel came to within about 5 feet of me and stopped. He looked straight up at me – eye to eye. I remember thinking these thoughts about whether prayer really existed and the whole of the argument I have made hereinabove, then it occurred to me. The squirrel was a messenger sent to tell me something. As I watched him intently for about five seconds, I sensed that the squirrel was simply saying to me, “Duh.” Then, having accomplished his divine effort, he scampered off.

Now I’m not saying that the squirrel talked like Balaam’s Donkey in Numbers 22:21-39. But I am declaring that God sent a message through the squirrel. He simply said, “Yes, it is as you say.” Of course, the squirrel put it more succinctly, “Duh!”

Thus, my prayer-loop is closed. I’ve come full circle. I’ve asked my questions and God has answered them. Will I question again? Probably. I believe God hopes so because asking and answering questions is part of the communication that defines a relationship. Above all other things. I want a relationship with God. I hope you do as well.

So let it be written, so let it be done.