Rage Against the Dying of the Light

I stole the title from Dr Carl Trueman
Petitionary Prayer as Rebellion against Status Quo

I read the following quote from David Wells and found it of much encouragement:

"It is in essence, rebellion--rebellion against the world in its fallenness, the
absolute and undying refusal to accept as normal what is pervasively
abnormal...It is the refusal of every agenda...that is at odds with the norm
established by God."

In other words, it is war against that which resists the plan of God. Wells writes that

prayer flousirishes only where there is a twofold belief: first, that God's name
is hallowed to irregularly, his kingdom has come too little, and his will is
done too infrequently; second, that God himself can change the situation.
Petitionary prayer is the expression of the hope that life as we meet it, on the
one hand, can be otherwise, and on the other hand, ought to be otherwise.

Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 143.