Prayer is an interesting and important subject.
We are advised by friends and Rectors and The Good Book to pray and that our prayers will be answered.
“Seek and ye shall find.”
“Knock and it shall be opened unto you.” I hope that is right.
“If ye have but the faith of a grain of mustard seed….”
And there is the assurance that if ye ask and believe it shall be granted.
“Greater things than I do ye shall do also.”
But try defining or asking human advisors what is meant by will be answered.
You will get quite a variety of answers.
I have been thinking about this for some time and have been forming a number of conclusions.
One is that when you have lived for four or five or six decades and are talking about this with similar folks, that you will never be able to change anyone’s mind.
Forget about it.
That's not the point.
By that time, folks have made of up their minds. Done. Finished.
But it is still a worthwhile discussion.
It is good to discuss things besides the weather and who or what team won this or that meaningless sporting event.
Anyway, the following quotes are appropriate. I offer them inasmuch as they are in line with my thoughts.
I have decided that I cannot talk God into anything. That if I could, I should not because I am not smart enough.
I have decided that the best prayer is to give thanks for this or that; to ask for this or that; and then to utter the biggie: THY WILL BE DONE.
Here are the quotes. I hope they are useful. Again, I have lost the citations.
The central significance of prayer is not in the things that happen as results, but in the deepening intimacy and unhurried communion with God….
"If it were the case that whatever we ask, God was pledged to give, then I would never pray again, because I would not have sufficient confidence in my own wisdom to ask God for anything."
Prayer puts us in communion with Deity. Perhaps the goal of prayer really is that communion....
Finally, that other warning comes to mind:
Be careful what you pray for. You might get it.
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1 comment:
I would love to talk further with you Paul. Maybe over a Leelanau campfire and an adult beverage! But let me throw this out. It kind of sets up my belief in Prayer:
God does not directly answer or deny our prayers. He does not cause or prevent events and actions of earthly or human proportion. Not since he gave Jesus that power long ago.
When I pray, I believe that I am envoking the Holy Spirit in a communion with Him. Then I am ready to react to the Prayer subject in a manner that accords to his will. So what I am really praying for, is for a tiny bit of God, through the Spirit, to be with me. Guiding and strenghtening me to react rightly to all that befalls me.
Example: A loved one is deathly ill. I know that God will not intervene. So what I really pray for is courage to let me do the right thing in response to his passing, whatever that may be.
Example: A job opportunity that I really want and need. God is not going to make that happen for me, (or not happen, for that matter). So like in my first example, I pray that I can react to whatever the outcome, in a most acceptable way to Him.
I should like to put these thoughts in much more of a formal context. The subject is so deep. But I couldn't resist chiming in (of course) with my initial reaction to your prompting.
We need a good, long fire!
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