Judith Greenberg, Ph.D., is not an evangelical. In fact, she is not even a Christian. She claims to be an atheist. Professor Greenberg studied at Yale and described herself as “a New York Upper West Side liberal, [and] a firm believer in science and rationality.” A nagging sense of what she calls “survivors’ guilt,” however, and the pain of increasingly bad news has left her asking questions about prayer. She admits, “I still call out to God as my first reaction to hearing bad news. ‘No, please don’t let it be so,’ I beg.”
Evangelicals might have questions about Dr. Greenberg’s prayers, but we cannot dismiss the fact that she prays. In fact, she is a part of the unusual, and apparently growing, phenomenon of atheists who pray. Reportedly, the number of praying atheists may be as large as 14 percent.
People who do not believe God exists, yet pray to Him, present a strange and inconsistent contradiction. Still, the fact that they pray may suggest something about the longing of the soul.
Obviously, there is a tremendous difference between the prayers of a person who denies the existence of God and the relationship-based prayers of God’s people. How much more should God’s people talk to their Father.
As the old saying goes, “Religion is man’s search for God. Christianity is God’s search for man.” As believers, even if we have strayed far from God for a season, it remains possible to return to God through prayer. In fact, there is no way to return to God without prayer.
We need to pray, even if our spiritual lives are inconsistent, outdated, or erratic. So, how do you or someone you’re helping reconstruct your prayer life?
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