Prayer

I’m currently reading a book by Philip Yancey entitled Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference? I think most “good” Christians would quickly say that prayer certainly makes a difference, but how so. Can anyone honestly say that every prayer that they’ve prayed has been answered in a satisfactory way? I was raised with the attitude that a no is just as much of an answer as a yes, but with that attitude pray still doesn’t make sense because God is going to do what He wants regardless. If He is going to do what He wants why bother Him with what we think would be a good idea. This is where I’ve often struggled to understand prayer…what am I asking for. Even when I truly want something with all my heart I pray for it with hesitation because my stronger feeling is that God’s will be done. I may want something to happen, but perhaps if that actually happened it would prevent someone from being saved…do I want it that badly.

In spite of that confusion I pray frequently (probably closer to constantly than periodically). Right now I’m praying for an uncle who has a mysteries health problem, two friend’s fathers who are fighting cancer, close friends that have health problems, my grandfather who is going through a tough time, and the list goes on and on…why? Some groups take the “name it and claim it” attitude, but I certainly don’t understand how they can hold that view. In their opinion if a prayer isn’t answered then the person praying didn’t have enough faith…well then I would like to hear how they explain that Jesus’ prayer to have the cup taken from Him (I’m referencing the Garden of Gethsemane prayer) wasn’t answered…did Jesus not have enough faith at that point. So I certainly don’t pray in hopes that my faith would be strong enough to “force” God’s hand to move.

The stock answer that is given in almost any book about prayer as to why we should pray is that we should because Jesus did. I certainly believe from an intellectual standpoint it is the trump card that says hey if the Son of God prays and says we should then just do it. However on this topic I have more of a personal response (at this point I want to make it clear that prayer is probably the biggest unanswered question for me but I’m going to share my two cents here). For me prayer is my time to share my heart with God…it is kind of like a couple telling each other about their day. So I approach prayer with the attitude that I’m going to tell Him all about those I’m concerned about, where I’m struggling in life, my hopes and dreams, and everything else that I would tell the love of my life. I know He can do miracles, and I do believe that He does miracles. So I will pray for them whole heartedly, but my faith isn’t dependent on how they are answered. I’m simply honored that I’ve been given the privilege of sharing my own life and concerns with the Him.