Exploring the second part of C.S. Lewis' 1945 article "Work and Prayer" where he asks the question "If God is all-wise… doesn’t he know what is best? And if he is all-good, won’t He do it whether you pray or not?" This question leads Lewis to consider whether petitionary prayer - asking God for things - is a lower form of prayer, and form some conclusions about what prayer is and what it isn't. Here Lewis introduces us to the awe-inspiring concept that God (as Blaise Pascal puts it) gives to us "the dignity of causality.” That is, how God has allowed us to participate with him in affecting the world through both work and prayer.

If you want to read or listen to C.S. Lewis' "Work and Prayer" you can find links to it in print, online, and in audio format at pintswithjack.com/essays

Hosts Sean Stevenson-Douglas and Jordan Duncan can be reached at lesserknownlewis@gmail.com.

Music by Jessica Syratt (Twitter: @jesssyratt). Graphic by Angus Crawford (mdr8store.com).