Prayer, Mystery, and Suffering: What Is Prayer Really For?
Voxology
Suffering, Doubt, and the Mystery of Prayer
A listener shares their personal story of doubt and faith reconstruction amidst the tragedies of their mother's passing from sepsis and their father's diagnosis of stage four pancreatic cancer, expressing confusion and struggle to understand.
What if prayer isn't just about getting answers? Mike and Kevin take on one of the most raw, painful, and universal questions in the life of faith: why pray when it doesn’t seem to change anything? In this vulnerable episode, they dive deep into an honest question from a listener experiencing unimaginable grief and crisis of faith following the sudden death of his mother and a devastating cancer diagnosis for his father. Drawing from scripture, theology, personal experience, and the teachings of Dallas Willard, the conversation explores the nature of prayer, suffering, and trust in a God whose ways are often mysterious—but never distant.
Key Takeaways: • Prayer as Participation, Not Transaction – Understanding prayer as part of our vocation to co-rule and create with God, not just a way to get our requests answered. • Training for Reigning – How spiritual disciplines including prayer shape us for God’s future kingdom and teach us to be trustworthy with power. • Does Prayer Really Change Things? – Wrestling with what the Bible means when it says things like “you have not because you ask not,” and what that implies about God’s interaction with our prayers. • The Mystery of Unanswered Prayer – Confronting the painful, disorienting reality when the faithful suffer or prayers seem ignored—and why simplistic answers (e.g. lack of faith or “God’s plan”) fall flat. • Lament as Faith – How wrestling with God and staying in relationship—even in doubt—is itself a form of deep trust.
Resources Mentioned: • James 5:16 – "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." • Dallas Willard – Writings on spiritual disciplines and the kingdom of God • Revelation 21–22 – A vision of the restored vocation of humanity in God's future kingdom • The Book of Job – A profound reflection on undeserved suffering and unsatisfying answers • Daniel 10 – A mysterious glimpse into spiritual warfare and delayed answers to prayer • Previous Voxology Episodes on Suffering, Hell, and God’s Will – VoxologyPodcast.com
Join the conversation, wrestle with the hard questions, and rediscover the purpose of prayer not as a means to an end—but as a pathway to deep relationship, trust, and spiritual formation.
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Music by Timothy John Stafford Instagram & Twitter: @GoneTimothy
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Music in this episode by Timothy John Stafford
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