Christians pray for deliverance and there is plenty of Biblical reason for them to do so. Nevertheless, I’ve begun to have some doubts regarding how Christians apply the Bible’s material on praying for different circumstances. (Or at least, I don’t think I’ve always done it right.)
I mentioned in my earlier post the ambiguous results from winning the lottery. While data is hard to collect, it seems that coming into money is not the solution to life that some people expect. Indeed, it is not a solution to one’s financial problems in some cases.
In the Bible, an event that resembled winning a big lottery occured for the Israelites when God brought them out of Egypt. They had groaned for release and God heard them (Exodus 2:23-25; 3:7-10). God transformed a society of slaves into an independent nation. Additionally, they were both enriched from the Egyptians and sustained in basic needs by God’s miraculous provision. Their circumstances were supernaturally changed.
But the change didn’t work out the way the Israelites expected. First of all, they got angry with Moses for confronting Pharaoh (5:21). Later, they continally expected God to abandon them to their enemies or to starvation. The Israelites even claimed they were treated better as slaves by the Egyptians than by God (Numbers 11:5-6). Ultimately, the entire generation had to die off in the wilderness and only the children survived.
We don’t know much about the culture of the Israelites as slaves in Egypt. Since they grew into a powerful nation, arguably they did some things right (Exodus 1:7, 9). But their subsequent behavior suggests that praying for different circumstances isn’t enough to benefit from those circumstances if God decides to grant your prayer request.
While we don’t have much information about how the Israelites handled slavery, we have a lot more data regarding the first Hebrew slave in Egypt whose circumstances were dramatically changed by God. There is no doubt that Joseph prayed for deliverance. But he also did other things during that time.
The salient points if Joseph’s life before Pharaoh freed him and exalted him are these.
- Jacob elevated Joseph in the family.
- Joseph’s brothers abducted and sold him to slave traders.
- Joseph served in Potiphar’s house and his master elevated him over everyone else.
- Potiphar’s wife accused him of sexual assault
- Potiphar (apparantly knowing his wife’s character) moved Joseph to the much more wretched assignment of running Pharaoh’s jail (Genesis39:1; 40:3).
Obviously, there were many successive injustices inflicted on Joseph. Obviously, he wanted his circumstances changed. He pleaded with his brothers for release (Genesis 42:21) and he tried to get Pharaoh’s help when he had opportunity to do so (40:15). We can be fairly confident that Joseph prayed to God to change his circumstances. Obviously, God didn’t grant his prayer right away.
But what did Joseph do besides pray?
Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
Genesis 39:1–6a; ESV
The text emphasizes God’s work on behalf of Joseph but there’s no doubt that
And what kind of attitude did Joseph have towards his circumstances? His response to Potiphar’s wife is astounding:
And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
Genesis 39:7–9; ESV
Joseph, who was abducted and forced into slavery, answers Potiphar’s wife by saying that Potiphar has honored and trusted him. He could have simply said that God forbids adultery. Instead, he gives a much more elaborate answer: He owes Potiphar not to violate his marriage!
Pharaoh ended Joseph’s slavery, but Joseph had always been acting like a ruler. Joseph may have been praying for better circumstances, but he served zealously in the circumstances that he wished would end.
My concern about Christians praying for better circumstances is that it can become a substitute for Christian living. Our circumstances are intolerable and therefore all we can do is pray that God changes them. When that happens we will be able to live the way God wants us to. The story of the Exodus suggests that if we’re not taking advantage of our slavery we won’t benefit from freedom. The story of Joseph suggests that if we want to rule as kings we had better start where we are.
