“Between AI, rigged elections, and Direct Energy Weapons, it’s a simple matter of time till anyone who resists the World Order is hauled off to one of the FEMA camps popping up all over the country.”  So stated my friend the project manager in a placid, emotionless way as if resigned to this distasteful fate but determined meanwhile not to give it much thought. He further reiterated, upon my probing, that nothing would change that. “Technology’s too advanced,” he shrugged. “The genie’s out of the bottle.”

In a separate instance, a pastor whom I admire as outspoken in the face of evil in his community and a bold witness – a Bonhoeffer of sorts in his day – has burned bridges with other leaders because their approach to activism is not identical to his. He mocked one Christian organization visible in state politics for offering to pray with “the other side”, citing it was ineffective when these folks were openly trampling the Constitution and corrupting themselves with bribes.

(Unbeknownst to him, but in knowledge of another pastor who was present at the Capitol that day, a certain congresswoman deemed an unlikely candidate for prayer happened to be in her office when this group stopped by and she took them up on their prayer offer.

“Yeah,” the congresswoman replied. “I got a request. The state is completely ineffective at helping addicts get free.” And at this statement, those offering prayer told her about Teen Challenge, its unparalleled success rate, and subsequently connected her with staff there.)

Lastly, a Christian friend reported the conditions of her recent visit to New York City. “It was overrun with illegals,” she reported. “And when I went into a Wal-Mart to buy some basic items, no one there could speak a word of English. I had to do charades to communicate.” As we discussed the growing problem of displacement of citizens from affordable housing by non-citizens and criminals, she surmised with an air of surrender, “Well, it’s the last days. Jesus said this would happen.”

What’s wrong with the “-isms”?

What’s the big deal with these three recent scenarios? The person in each is someone whom I respect and whose worldview is not invalid. However, what troubles me about each perspective, namely cynicism, idealism, and fatalism, respectively (the last being perhaps most prevalent in the confessing church, and often attributed to God’s sovereignty) is that all three keep us from fervent prayer.

Without fervent prayer, God’s will is largely held back from what He purposes to do in the earth.

As Chip Brogden stated, ““If God will do whatever He wishes, regardless of whether we pray or not, then we do not need to pray at all, and the Lord’s instructions on praying for the Kingdom and His will are superfluous. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. Apart from us, He will do nothing.”

Shaping History Through Prayer and Fasting by Derek Prince is a must-read for any believer. A mighty encouragement, it details how the history of world events in the last century played out against a hidden backdrop that was the church’s intercession. The hand of Jehovah moved in impossible situations at the prayers of His saints.

Any previous generation could have fallen into fatalism, cynicism, and idealism, thereby giving up on prayer and possibly on God’s mercy and precepts prevailing. May we not fall into the trap of any mindset that has some truth in it, but ultimately keeps us from prayer.