Can God be Trusted?

A fundamental question within any religion that must be asked is, “Can you trust your god?” Of course if one believes in a benevolent, merciful, and essentially good god, then it follows that that god can be trusted. If, however, one has doubts as to whether your god is good, then the issue of trust of the deity comes into question. In this post, I will look at the religions of Mesopotamia and Israel to find out if their respective gods could be trusted and whether their followers felt they could trust them. I will be looking at various aspects of their religion such as prayer, divination, piety and others.

We have many examples of prayers within the Mesopotamian religion (Mesopotamia being a broad stroke covering the religion of the Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, etc. Although these were very different cultures, the majority of components of their religion were the same including the sharing of deities, although the hierarchy very often changed depending on who was in power at the time). These prayers give us an insight into the emotions and feelings of the authors regarding their deities. The Assyrian King Asshurbanipal (668-627 BCE) wrote this prayer on a tablet.

“Thus I’ve done good for the gods and for men, for the living and for the dead. But then, why do illness and sadness, difficulties and prejudice continue to plague me? Discord in the land, complaining in my Palace, troubles and failures of all sorts, are constantly against me! Illness of the body and the heart have completely shrivelled me up. I spend my time sighing and complaining. Even the day of the Great Feast I remain in despair. . . O my god, reserve such a fate for the impious, and allow me to find happiness once again! How long are you going to abuse me so, and to treat me as one who respects neither gods or goddesses?”

Here we can see Asshurbanipal touching upon the subject of suffering. It seems that he is of the opinion that since he has lived a pious life (a requirement of the gods) he should be living a life of happiness. Yet, his life seems to be plagued with various tragedies. The one line, “reserve such a fate for the impious”, seems to imply a blessing and curse theology where righteousness is rewarded, and disobedience and unrighteousness bring curses and tragedies. This is of course one way in which the Mesopotamians explained unanswered prayers or certain sufferings in their lives. If the gods were allowing suffering in their lives, it was most certainly because of some source of unrighteousness or sin in the victim’s life. Yet, as we see here in this prayer, Asshurbanipal fails to find anything within his life that would warrant such a response from the gods. He questions the gods and thus, his trust is broken. What follows is a piece of Babylonian Wisdom Literature which displays this blessing and curse theology within Mesopotamian religion which is alluded to in Asshurbanipal’s prayer above.

“Every day worship your god.
Sacrifice and benediction are the proper accompaniment of incense.
Present your free-will offering to your god,
For this is proper toward the gods.
Prayer, supplication and prostration.
Offer him daily, and you will get your reward.
Then you will have full communion with your god.
Reverence begets favor,
Sacrifice prolongs life,
And prayer atones for guilt.”

According to this piece of wisdom literature, there are two main ingredients for obtaining blessings from the gods (in this case in the form of long life): Sacrifice and prayer. The author maintains that sacrifice will prolong life, and prayer atones for guilt. Sacrifice and the free-will offering, in Mesopotamia, were generally thought of as a way to sustain the gods. The gods, like humans, required food, clothing, etc. in order to have a worry free existence. Humans were required by the gods to provide these things for them. As well, the gods demanded a level of morality from humankind as well. We see here that prayer was the atonement for guilt. There was also punishment for immorality as well. In the previous prayer we saw how to obtain blessing. In this next prayer to Marduk, we can see how sin can cause divine affliction and how it was necessary to pray for atonement.

O warrior Marduk, whose anger is the deluge,
Whose relenting is that of a merciful father,
I am left anxious by speech unheeded,
My hopes are deceived by outcry unanswered,
Such as has sapped my courage,
And hunched me over like an aged man.
O great lord Marduk, merciful lord!
Men, by whatever name,
What can they understand of their own sin?
Who has not been negligent,
Which one has committed no sin?
Who can understand a god’s behavior?
I would fain be obedient and incur no sin,
Yes, I would frequent the haunts of health!
Men are commanded by the gods to act under curse,
Divine affliction is for mankind to bear.
I am surely responsible for some neglect of you,
I have surely trespassed the limits set by the god.
Forget what I did in my youth,
Absolve my guilt, remit my punishment,
Clear me of confusion, free me of uncertainty,
Let no guilt of my father, my grandfather, my mother,
My grandmother, my brother, my sister,
My family, kith, or kin
Approach my own self, but let it be gone!
If my god has commanded (it) for me,
Purify me as with medicaments.
Commend me into the hands of my (personal) god
And my (personal) goddess for well-being and life,
Let me stand before you always in prayer, supplication, and entreaty,
Let the fruitful peoples of a well-ordered land praise you.
Absolve my guilt, remit my guilt!
O warrior Marduk, absolve my guilt, remit my guilt!
O great lady Erua-Sarpanitu, absolve my guilt,
O Nabu of the good name, absolve my guilt,
O great lady, Tashmetu, absolve my guilt,
O warrior Nergal, absolve my guilt,
O gods who dwell (in) Anu’s (heaven),
Absolve my guilt!
The monstrous guilt that I have built up from my youth,
Scatter it hence, absolve it sevenfold.
Let my real father and my real mother,
Let your heart be reconciled to me.
O warrior Marduk, let me sound your praises!

The writer of this prayer has had some issue with his health as he describes himself as a hunched over old man, and he longs to frequent the haunts of health. It is also obvious that he feels that his illness is the result of sin or the neglect of some religious rite on his part. He appeals to Marduk’s mercy and proceeds to ask for atonement for his guilt. As in Israelite religion (and modern Christian tradition) the sin and guilt of one’s ancestor’s and relatives can also give reason for the gods to inflict curses and hardship upon an individual. The author of the previous prayer entreats Marduk to absolve the guilt of his mother, grandmother, kith, kin and any of his relatives believing that their sin could also be the cause of his problems. And just in case it isn’t Marduk who’s angry with him, the author also appeals to lady Erua-Sarpanitu, Nabu, Tashmetu, Nergal, and to the gods who dwell in Anu’s heaven (which are the rest of the gods, just in case it wasn’t any of those four).

In the poem of the righteous sufferer, a man (like Job) is plunged into suffering for some unseen reason. He, like Job, then begins to question the gods.

Like one who has not made libations to his god,
Nor invoked his goddess at table,
Does not engage in prostration, nor takes cognizance of bowing down;
From whose mouth supplication and prayer is lacking,
Who has done nothing on holy days, and despised Sabbaths,
Who in his negligence has despised the gods’ rites,
Has not taught his people reverence and worship,
But has eaten his food without invoking his god,
And abandoned his goddess by not bringing a flour offering,
Like one who has grown torpid and forgotten his lord,
Has frivolously sworn a solemn oath by his god, (like such a one) do I appear.
For myself, I gave attention to supplication and prayer:
To me prayer was discretion, sacrifice my rule,
The day for reverencing the god was a joy to my heart;
The day of the goddess’s procession was profit and gain to me.

For the Mesopotamian, suffering seemed to be explained through sin against the gods, or some sort of neglect in the maintenance of the religious liturgy (sacrifice, offerings, etc). Any failure in this could bring suffering upon the people. As well, the consistent maintenance of the gods as well as a moral life brings blessing from the gods. Yet, as everybody undoubtedly discovered in their own life, these rules don’t really seem to stand up to scrutiny. The Mesopotamian as well could see this as we saw demonstrated in the previous excerpt. Here is another example of a rather sarcastic attitude towards the gods from what is called the Babylonian Theodicy.

Those who neglect the god go the way of prosperity,
While those who pray to the goddess are impoverished and dispossessed.
In my youth I sought the will of my god;
With prostration and prayer I followed my goddess.
But I was bearing a profitless corvee as a yoke.
My god decreed instead of wealth destitution.
A cripple is my superior, a lunatic outstrips me.
…………………..
I have looked around society, but the evidence is contrary.
The god does not impede the way of a devil.

The people knew the rules that the gods set out for them, yet it seemed that even if they followed the rules, the gods were not keeping up their end of the bargain. Could the gods be trusted to hold up their end of the blessing and curse covenant? To the Mesopotamian who has suffered for no apparent reason, they would answer ‘no’. The gods could not be trusted. Yet the gods were the supreme forces in the universe and regardless whether or not they held up their end of the bargain, humans by all means had to uphold their end, if for no other reason but to try and deter further affliction.

Israelite religion was very similar in blessing and curse theology. If the Israelites would follow Yahweh, obey his commandments and maintain his liturgy through sacrifice, he would protect them as a nation and provide for them. One can see this theology laid out fairly explicitly in Leviticus 26.

3 If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out,
4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.
5 Indeed, your threshing will last for you until grape gathering, and grape gathering will last until sowing time You will thus eat your food to the full and live securely in your land.
6' I shall also grant peace in the land, so that you may lie down with no one making you tremble I shall also eliminate harmful beasts from the land, and no sword will pass through your land.
14' But if you do not obey Me and do not carry out all these commandments,
15 if, instead, you reject My statutes, and if your soul abhors My ordinances so as not to carry out all My commandments, and so break My covenant,
16 I, in turn, will do this to you: I will appoint over you a sudden terror, consumption and fever that will waste away the eyes and cause the soul to pine away; also, you will sow your seed uselessly, for your enemies will eat it up.

The author of Psalm 18 certainly believed that his righteous acts would be rewarded by God, another example of the blessing and curse theology.

20The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God. 22 For all His ordinances were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me. 23 I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.24Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

Verses 26 and 27 of the same Psalm reveal both sides of the spectrum. Righteousness is rewarded and wickedness is punished.

26With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute. 27For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase.


Throughout the book of Judges we see time after time this blessing and curse theology played out on a national level.

Judges 2
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither Yahweh nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and served the Baals. 12 They forsook Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked Yahweh to anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In his anger against Israel Yahweh handed them over to raiders who plundered them. He sold them to their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of Yahweh was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

We also see that when the Israelites returned to their God, he then blessed them and redeemed them from their suffering.

Judges 3
9 But when they cried out to Yahweh, he raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 10 The Spirit of Yahweh came upon him, so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. Yahweh gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him. 11 So the land had peace for forty years, until Othniel son of Kenaz died.

In Exodus 19, we see again an example of the blessing promised by God and the requirements of that blessing.

5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.'

However, like the Mesopotamians, the Israelites as well had their doubts about whether or not God was holding up his end of the bargain. This sentiment is displayed best in the book of Job. Most are familiar with this book and the results. At the beginning, we are given a sneak peak into heaven where we see that God allows Job to be tested. Even though he is righteous, God allows Satan to cause affliction in Job’s life. Job then goes on to question God and his decisions. Job knows that he has lived a righteous life and by rights, according to the promises of God, does not deserve this punishment. We, the readers, of course have the inside knowledge that God is allowing him to be tested. When God finally does reply to Job’s words, he doesn’t let Job in on the secret of him being tested, but rather simply (or rather long windedly) says that He is God, and Job is human. God cannot be questioned simply because he is God, and that should be good enough for Job. Surprisingly, Job seems to accept this and repents of his attitude resulting in the replenishment of the blessings upon Job.

Both the story of Job and the Righteous Sufferer take aim at their respective gods in regard to suffering, despite being righteous and doing what their god demanded. The Babylonian version, however, gives no explanation as to why the person was made to suffer. The ending, slightly fragmented, gives us the allusion that Marduk did restore him and alleviate his suffering but without any reference as to the original reason as to why he was allowed to suffer. The book of Job, however, does offer an explanation to the reader, yet not to Job. The reader is led to believe that Job is being tested by God. However, Job himself does not receive any explanation but is rather told simply to trust God because he is God. The book of Job also leaves one with the impression that it is unwise and possibly wrong (or a sin) to question God and his wisdom. It would seem that the true righteous follower will never question God.

From these examples of prayers/dialogues with God, it is apparent that in both Mesopotamian and Israelite tradition, it was not always possible for the follower of the gods to trust wholly in the system/promises that were laid out by the deities. Both religions follow a general blessing/curse theology of the gods, and yet we find examples in both religions where this covenant is not followed by the deity.

So can one trust God in his covenant of blessings for the righteous and curses for the wicked? The answer we find in the Biblical and Mesopotamian sources would be ‘no’. Of course, a short reflection upon our own modern lives would also yield the answer ‘no’. So why would such a blessing/curse theology evolve in the first place? What reason might there have been behind this type of thinking? Why is it a common idea throughout the Ancient Near East?

My answer to this question is that, in all likelihood, this straight and narrow theology of blessing and curse was a human creation that is an attempt to control our own destinies. We as humans have a natural tendency to want to control our own lives. We don’t like the idea that God controls what happens to us. Yet, if we believe in God, and if we believe he is all powerful, then it follows that we must believe that he also has the ability to control what happens to us for good or bad. I believe that the blessing/curse theology of the Ancient Near East was an attempt to tame the deity, to control the gods. If they acted in a certain manner, if one performed certain libations, this all-powerful being had to (in the sense of being controlled by our actions) bless the righteous person. On the flip side, if something bad happened to us, it was not God doing it to us, but rather a result of our own actions or inactions. I believe that this type of thinking that God will bless the righteous and curse the wicked is a human system designed to control God and put God’s power back into human hands. Not to say that God doesn’t bless us or curse us. I believe that God’s blessings and curses are not so easily controlled by our actions. Suffering falls upon the righteous and the wicked alike. A quick look around our modern society and it seems one must be evil in order to obtain blessings (in the worldly sense). Do I think God can be trusted? Yes. Do I think God can be controlled by our righteous acts or prayers? No. Do I enjoy asking yes or no questions of myself and then answering them in the next sentence? Yes.

There is another aspect of this trust of God which I would like to look at, and that is through the form of prophecy or divination. First we will look at divination and prophecy within the Mesopotamian tradition, then move on to the Israelite religion.

In Mesopotamia, there were essentially two ways to divine the will of the gods and in particular to foresee the future. These were through prophecy and divination. Prophecy for the Mesopotamian was mainly done through the ‘ecstatic’ or ‘inspired divination’. The god would pass on a message to his people through a receiver (apilu) who could be a man or woman. They were very often people of lower or marginal standing and showed a tendency toward ‘delirium’. The message that the god wanted to transfer would be shown in either a vision or an inspiration. Here is an example from a letter to Zimri-Lim, the king of Mari.

(A certain) prophet came to find me, some time ago, concerning the restoration of the Great Door. He was all upset, and he said to me: “Undertake this work!” At present, the very day when I am sending My Lord the present tablet, he came back to tell me, forcefully: “If you do not restore this door, there will be piles of bodies, and you will never escape the consequences!” This is what he said to me.

Here is an example of a prophecy that apparently came true concerning the king’s daughter.

A prophet had had an ‘ecstasy’ concerning the girl whom the Queen brought into this world: this daughter of My Lord did not live: she died today. . . . The same day, a certain Irra-gamil also had had an ‘ecstasy’ and had declared: “She will not live!” Before the king arrives in Mari, tell him that his little girl is dead, so that he will be informed! We fear that he will be profoundly upset by this news.

This form of prophecy seemed to only exist in the Western Semitic areas of Mesopotamia such as Mari and later in the Assyrian kingdom. Due to its somewhat subject nature (the prophet in any given situation could be using their ‘prophetic ability’ to manipulate the situation, in particular, the sovereign) the Babylonians preferred a more deductive approach to discovering the will of the gods, and that was through divination. Two examples of this are extispicy (the study of anomalies within animal entrails in order to divine the future) and hepatoscopy (using the liver of the animal to divine the future). This was a very specialized profession utilized by the rich and powerful (for only they could afford the service). However, as is expected, the predictions made through these means were not always correct and could not necessarily be trusted. When things did go awry, there was a long list of reasons as to why the divination didn’t work. Here is an example of a prayer to Shamash (the god of divination) asking him to ignore any of these ‘reasons’ why the divination might fail in order to achieve a positive result.

Shamash, great lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you!
Niqia, mother of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who is now ill, and on whom the ‘hand’ of god Iqbi-damiq was placed in estispicy—will it pass by unto sacrificial sheep and oxen?
If she is ill with this disease, is it decreed and confirmed in a favourable case, by the command of your great divinity, Shamash, great lord?
Will he who can see, see it? Will he who can hear, hear it?
Disregard that a clean or an unclean person has touched the sacrificial sheep, or blocked the way of the sacrificial sheep.
Disregard that an unclean man or woman has come near the place of the extispicy and made it unclean.
Disregard that an unclean person has performed extispicy in this place.
Disregard that the ram offered to your divinity for the performance of the extispicy is deficient or faulty.
Disregard that he who touches the forehead of the sheep is dressed in his ordinary soiled garments, or has eaten, drunk, or anointed himself with anything unclean.
Disregard that I, the haruspex your servant, have eaten, drunk, or anointed myself with anything unclean, changed or altered the proceedings, or jumbled the oracle query in my mouth.
Let them be taken out and put aside!
I ask you, Shamash, great lord: Be present in this ram, place in it a firm positive answer, favourable designs, favourable, propitious omens by the oracular command of your great divinity, and may I see them.
May this query go to your great divinity, O Shamash, great lord, and may an oracle be given as an answer.

As is evident from this prayer, even divination, the less subjective form of discerning the will of the gods, was not free from error. As such, many reasons were created as to why the divination could have been wrong. This is not so much an issue of trust of the gods, but it does make discovering their will very difficult. Also an issue is whether or not the gods will always tell the truth, whether it be through divination or prophecy. Is it possible for the beneficent gods to lie? Is divine deceit possible?

If we look at the Myth of Adapa and the Food of Life, we do find that it is possible, at least in the minds of the authors of this myth, for the gods to lie. Adapa is told by the god Ea, that when he is brought into the council of Anu, the great god of heaven, he will be offered the food and water of death and that he should not drink. However, when Adapa is in the council of Anu, he is offered the food and drink of life, which would grant him immortality. Adapa, thinking it is the food and water of death as was told to him by Ea, refuses the food and drink. It is unclear as to why Ea deceived Adapa, but what is clear from this myth, is that the gods are capable of deceit and lying.

As we turn to the Israelite God and ask the same question - Does God lie? - what answer can we find within the Biblical texts? The result is somewhat surprising. Prophecy within the Israelite religion is particularly problematic on this point. If the prophets are inspired by God, and if it is impossible for God to lie, then what the prophets say must be true. However, we find numerous examples where the prophet intentionally lies. For example, there is the story in 1 Kings 13 where the old prophet from Bethel lied to the young prophet from Judah causing his death. However, in this case it may be that the old prophet was acting of his own accord and was not inspired by God (as the text seems to suggest).

There are, however, examples of prophecy in which God himself is the instigator of the deceit. The most well known is probably that of 1 Kings 22. King Ahab of Israel is thinking of attacking the Arameans in order to retrieve the city of Ramoth-Gilead and consults the prophets of God before doing so. This is the response he is given.

6 So the king of Israel brought together the prophets—about four hundred men—and asked them, "Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Go," they answered, "for the Lord will give it into the king's hand."

Ahab then decides to consult Micaiah the son of Imlah as well in order to be sure.

13 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably."
14 But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me."
15 When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Attack and be victorious," he answered, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand."
16 The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD ?"
17 Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.' "
18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?"
19 Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD : I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.
20 And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that.
21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.'
22 " 'By what means?' the LORD asked. " 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. " 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.'
23 "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you."

In this situation, Micaiah, who is portrayed as the true prophet, reveals that God had put a lying spirit within the prophets and instructed Micaiah to lie as well, the purpose of which was to kill off Ahab. This is perhaps the most blatant example of divine deceit and a God that lies within the Biblical text. It would be difficult to trust a God such as this, one that is capable of lying for the purpose of murder.

The prophet Jeremiah also seemed to believe that Yahweh was capable of lying and deceit. In Jeremiah 4:10 he says, “Ah, Sovereign LORD, how completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, You will have peace, when the sword is at our throats." Again in Jeremiah 20:7 the prophet laments, “O Yahweh, you have deceived me and I was deceived. You were stronger than I, and you have prevailed.” Jeremiah also says to Yahweh in Jeremiah 15:18, “Why has my pain been perpetual and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream with water that is unreliable?” It appears that the prophet Jeremiah certainly believed that God was capable of lying and deceit. If this is so, how can one ever trust such a God? Granted, in all instances where God is seen as being the inspiration for false prophecy it is first instigated by disobedience within the receiver of said prophecy. Thus, it may be safe to say that God will always tell the truth to those who are obedient. To those who have sin (and don’t we all), the possibility of a lying God remains a distinct possibility.

Can God be trusted? Can God be counted on to bless those who are righteous and curse those who are wicked? I don’t believe so. Blessing and curse, as bestowed upon humans, seems to be random at best, at least in the worldly material sense (which was the main concern of those perpetuating this theology as seen in the Biblical texts). The blessing and curse theology was likely a result of humanity trying to take some control over their respective god in order to have some hope of a better life.

Also, if God is capable of lying and deceiving those who are disobedient, then it seems difficult to trust the words of such a God. Modern Christianity is fraught with examples of people who have felt that God was telling them a certain thing, and that they believed it very strongly only to discover that they were wrong. Was God deceiving that person or was that person merely not as in touch with God as they thought they were? Both are a possibility. How many times have people prayed for their loved ones to be spared only to have that prayer unanswered. It is difficult to reconcile this with the verses in Luke 11.

9"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10"For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
11"Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?
12"Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he?
13"If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

Here God is even comparing our intellect with his own, saying that if we know how to do good for our children, how much more does God know how to do good for us. It stands to reason then, that if my intellect tells me that a 13 year old boy should not have to die from cancer, how much more would God agree? Yet, if he does agree, why doesn’t he answer the prayer to save that boy?

Prayer in itself may be somewhat comparable to the blessing/curse theology of the Israelites and Mesopotamians in regard to how we as Christians use and perceive it. Like the blessing and curse theology, prayer at times can be used as a system to try and control God. I have heard the phrase that God only acts if we pray. This seems to me like it is putting God on some kind of leash. This attitude seems to place humans in the position of power and control, and not God.
In the same way the Mesopotamians had a long list of reasons why a certain extispicy may not have worked, Modern Christians also have many reasons as to why prayer may not have worked (lack of faith, sin in our lives, result of the fall, didn’t pray hard enough, or not in God’s will). All of those reasons, except for perhaps the last, again puts the onus and control back into human hands. Maybe the purpose of prayer never was to control God and have him do our bidding. I have a friend who is going through a very difficult time right now. He tells me that he is finding himself praying constantly throughout the day. He is waking up at 4:00am every morning simply because he can’t sleep and has to pray. It flows out of him at every moment. He feels like he has nothing left to hope for and that praying to God is all he has left. I have seen him change even in the last few days as he has been going through his struggle, and he has begun to realize a sense of hope. He doesn’t know if God will answer his prayer or not, but it I’m sure he can relate to the following quote from the movie Shadowlands about the life of C.S. Lewis. Here, C.S. Lewis had just received some news that his wife, who was terminally ill, was doing better.

Harry: Christopher can scoff, Jack, but I know how hard you've been praying; and now God is answering your prayers.

C. S. Lewis: That's not why I pray, Harry. I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God, it changes me.

I believe that God can be trusted, but I don’t think he can be placed into a box. If one takes the Biblical text at its word, then God is capable of lying and reneging on his own covenants that he has made. I particularly like the description of Aslan in the “Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis.

“Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver…”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

God is good, dangerous, and all powerful all at once. Trusting God cannot come from our own preconceived notions of what a promise or covenant is. Trusting God, like faith, is often simply a choice. Can he be trusted? By human standards and according to human intellect, he cannot be trust. But, if you are prepared for some surprises and willing to grant him the control he rightly deserves and relinquish your own leash on his power, then perhaps, you can learn to trust God in a new way.

Sources:

The Bible and the Ancient Near East, J.J.M. Roberts, Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake Indiana, 2002

Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia, Jean Bottero, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2001

Dingir. s̆a. dib. ba Incantations Author(s): W. G. Lambert Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 33, No. 3 (Jul., 1974), pp. 267-322 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/544700