Ki Tavo: Who Really Believes in the Power of Prayer Anyway?

Every Wednesday morning, I teach a Bible class. We're not a speedy bunch, mind you. Sometimes we may cover a chapter or two, but occasionally an entire class can be spent on a single paragraph of text. 

Needless to say, our discussions often go on for a while, so we move at a pretty slow and steady pace. It took us an entire year to get through the Book of Genesis, and we are now in the early chapters of Exodus. It therefore feels kind of funny to be reading about Moses beginning to approach Pharaoh in class, while our weekly Torah portion has us wrapping up the very end of Deuteronomy, and the Israelites about to enter the Promised Land. From Wednesday to Saturday, I feel like I jump 40 years into the future! But it also gives me an opportunity to reflect back and forth between the start and the end of the Exodus, which surprisingly also offers some insights regarding this, the Season of Repentance before the High Holidays.

Our parashah this week enjoins the Israelites to recall their history in Egypt when they eventually enter Canaan and offer sacrifices to God. When they, in the near future, will bring an offering to the Levitical priests, they are commanded to recite a specific formula, which retells the story as follows (and I'm paraphrasing): 'Our ancestors went down 

to Egypt; became populous; the Egyptians oppressed and enslaved us; we THEN cried out to God; God freed us from bondage; God brought us here.' The full version can be found in Deuteronomy 26:5-10, or, incidentally, it is also reproduced in the Passover Haggadah. What jumps out at me is the sequence of events; our plea to God only came late in our time of oppression. Sure enough, this story in Deuteronomy is corroborated in Exodus. Our Wednesday Bible class recently read that the first time the Israelites prayed for help was at the end of chapter 2 in Exodus, after a long period of bondage and hardship. We may be surprised when God finally takes notice of their pain, but perhaps no one had called out to God until then!

Which is not to say, by the way, that I'm blaming the victim. Theologically, it is still problematic that God 'forgot' us until conditions got REALLY bad. But the order of events 

presented in this week's Levitical prayer, in Deuteronomy, DOES reflect an accurate description of when the Israelites first called out to God. So why did they wait? Were things not so bad earlier? Had they just grown accustomed to their slavery, and they couldn't imagine anything different? Or were they just feeling dejected and forgotten, such that prayer seemed impossible? Again, we're not blaming them for remaining slaves for as long as they did. But is there also a lesson in here for us all regarding the power of prayer? Even just as a self-motivator, as a kick-starter to get us to change ourselves and improve our own lives? I think there is.

Many people today do not believe that prayer 'works.' By which they presumably mean that we don't automatically 'get' the things (money, success, wisdom) we pray for. But that can also be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If we don't believe our prayers can do anything; they won't! 

Perhaps the Israelites didn't reach out to God because they thought it was pointless. But as soon as they did, they were ready to believe in a leader, and ready to lift THEMSELVES out of the mire of bondage. As we continue to march towards the High Holidays, let us also think about how prayer actually COULD work in our own lives. What will it take for you to offer a sincere prayer, about something you truly want to change - in yourself - and which is achievable? Do not remain a slave to your own cynicism, firmly refusing to believe in the efficacy of prayer. You can free yourself, and make this a season of true and deep change. But you need to first figure out where you are in your own sequence, in your own life, and then determine which specific prayer is needed. And then, offer it sincerely. You never know who's listening...

Photos in this blog post:
1. CC image courtesy of Kris from Seattle, USA on Wikimedia Commons
2. CC image courtesy of Dennis Jarvis on Wikimedia Commons
3. CC image courtesy of Vert on Wikimedia Commons
4. CC image courtesy of Geo Swan on Wikimedia Commons