Prayer and Faith in Habakkuk

Authentic Prayer in Habakkuk

The world today offers many challenges, especially for the person who is determined to maintain a sense of faithful love for God. In addition to the many scientific and non-faithful persons attempting to dethrone God from the faithful heart, personal struggles and challenges could also lead to significant despair. Even the strongest of faiths can be tested, challenged, and even a little shaken. It is my belief that this is one of the reasons why the Bible is filled with examples of everyday human beings who, despite the faith required for their positions as prophets or preachers, nevertheless experienced challenges that were every bit as hard on their faith as the challenges we experience today (Hays, p. 16). Hence, a prophet like Habakkuk and the nature of his prayers provide for the reader an honest rendition of what it truly means to have faith, and indeed, as stated, to have a mature type of faith that believes in the supernatural power of God, accepts his sovereign purpose, and trusts in his settled promises.

Habakkuk's prayer illustrates the above statement by demanding that God shows his supernatural power, and also by praising God for the supernatural power he has illustrated in the past. This shows a strong faith in God's ability to in fact demonstrate the supernatural power of which he is capable, especially in retaliation against the faithless sinners within the nation and all around Israel. In addition, Habakkuk adds a pleading component to his prayer, where he trusts in God's mercy and the promise to protect his people. Here, the prophet acknowledges the wrath God is most likely preparing to unleash on the nation, while also pleading with God to keep in mind the merciful promises he has made.

The various components of the prayer, therefore, demonstrates that Habakkuk has developed a mature type of faith. This, however, is not something that happened overnight. Instead, the first two chapters of the book concerns Habakkuk's complaints to God. He is dissatisfied with the sinful actions and faithlessness he observes all around him, by both his own people and those of foreign nations. He demands to know why God is not taking this situation more seriously. Habakkuk's faith is experiencing the challenge of many other faithful people throughout history: It appears that God is completely absent and uncaring of earthly events. Habakkuk, however, does not let his anger grow unhindered. Instead, he makes the decision to communicate with God. He wrestles with God about his doubts throughout the first two chapters. Finally, in Chapter 3, he is able to offer the prayer of a maturely faithful man. He is able to do this only after wrestling with his pain, communicating with God, and finally receiving his answer. In other words, mature faith results from a process, and often a painful one. It is not something one receives as a gift. It is something to develop through experience and pain.

One area of struggle that could result in crying out to God in the way that Habakkuk did is the loss of a job because of economic restructuring. This kind of loss can result in confusion, since the person might have put a lot of passion and work into the position. Indeed, the person might have prayed for the specific job and praised God for getting it. Losing it could feel like betrayal by the same God who provided the opportunity. Such a situation might make a person cry out to God in anger and confusion.

While there is no visible change in Habakkuk's external situation, there is a significant change in his attitude. He develops from a bitter, lamenting prophet to one who can joyfully praise God (Chisholm, p. 185). Verse 16 of the third Chapter clearly states that no change has occurred in terms of the invading nation or indeed the faithlessness of his own people. Yet Habakkuk himself has experienced a personal revival of faith to such an extent that this overrides the agony caused by his external situation. He is now able to not only wait patiently for God's promises to come into effect, but also to praise God while he waits for this process. Using the availability of figs, grapes, sheep and cattle as symbols of prosperity, Habakkuk no longer places his faith only in what he can see. Indeed, even the lack of all visible prosperity cannot silence his praise. The main reason for this is Habakkuk's ability to not only voice his concerns and complaints to God in complete honesty, but also to listen when God responds. These are the two essential components when using external and painful circumstances for the purpose of developing a mature faith in a God that is not visible and often appears to be absent not only from the world in general, but also from the world of the faithful.