It’s been said many times, and I’ve even said it myself: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.”
I’ve most often heard this statement made in relation to perpetual sin…”a dog returning to its vomit” (Proverbs 26:11). Of course, in that context, it’s true.
Well, recently a friend of mine pointed out another truth:
Prayer is insane.
How often do we pray repeatedly the same prayer expecting that God will give a different answer?
Weeks? Months? Years?
A father prays that God will pursue and win back a son that has wasted his youth chasing wisps of smoke.
A son holds his mother’s hand as she battles a disease that has taken her life away piece by piece and pleads for healing.
A wife intercedes for a husband whose vomit is online in the darkest places of the net.
Over and over again. Expecting a different result.
Is this wrong? I don’t think so. I think it’s part of the nature of prayer. Does it change God’s mind to ask him for something repeatedly? Can you “wear down” God?
Good questions.
I don’t know if I can answer them very intelligently today, so I’ll take a crack at them another time.
All I’m saying is this: when Jesus prayed for God to “take the cup of suffering from him” three times (Matthew 26:36-46), He might have sounded a little crazy.