The narrator must address the theological difficulties of petitionary prayer. The New Testament contains troubling promises that prayers made with faith will be granted, and Mark 11: 24 is the most extreme example, as it promises that whatever one asks for with belief, one will receive. Two major problems arise from this claim: First, observed reality contradicts this, as countless unanswered prayers during wars, famines, and deathbeds attest; and second, Jesus’s prayer in Gethsemane included a reservation about God’s will, making it unclear how one can simultaneously have perfect faith in receiving something while preparing for refusal or a form of answer that one might not expect, such as receiving strength.

The narrator rejects discarding inconvenient scriptural promises, arguing that people must not ignore troublesome facts. He makes two practical points: First, these promises are unsuitable for beginners. He cites how the Widow taught Huck Finn that he could get what he prayed for, leading to his permanent disillusionment with Christianity. The narrator’s second point is that one must not manufacture a subjective state of faith through psychological effort.

He concludes that these promises refer to a rare degree of faith, which most believers never experience.