“Hello God, are you there? It’s me Margaret again..” that’s how I feel sometimes when I pray. The only difference is that instead of being a 12 year old girl asking for boobs, I’m a 52 year old man asking for wisdom and a little self-restraint in a diet that will hopefully (God willing?!?!) magically make my love handles disappear. My prayers are not always so petty. The other day after studying in Exodus and learning about Jehovah Rapha (The LORD who Heals), I prayed that He heal my achilles tendon that has been really bothering me lately. In case you are wondering, it’s still bugging me (oh, and my love handles are bigger than ever). Maybe I should pray to not be a little b*%@ (someone pray for my potty mouth).
The Bible says a lot about prayer:
The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. (James 5:16)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Phillipians 4:6)
But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father…(Matthew 6:6)
pray continually. (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
The Bible’s critics say even more. I was reading a book recently where the author had terminal cancer. He was an atheist and he, (like I did as an agnostic), would get upset when people mentioned that they would pray for him. His thought was why are you wasting time to pray to a God who let this happen to begin with?
I know that prayer has worked in my life. I also know I could do a much better job of talking to God. I try to make sure I sincerely pray when I say I’m going to pray for someone, but I’m sure I’ve added to the millions of good intentions that are offered without action. I know that I’ve offered many prayers with no real belief or faith that they’ll make a difference. I’ve also offered many, many prayers of gratitude for blessings in my life (see, I’m not always a whiny B).
There is alway the concern about how to pray. What if I mess up my thee’s and thou’s? The good news is God understands us even when we were are so hurt or frustrated that we aren’t making sense or even don’t know what in the heck to pray for (we do not know what to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us–Romans 8:26), I heard recently that God doesn’t always answer our prayers because he knows that as soon as our prayers are answered, we’ll stop talking to him. He wants the relationship with us and a one-sided relationship isn’t a good one. Heck sometimes I’ve got to do a reality check on my prayers. This blog is a perfect example… am I really praying that HE will somehow be glorified through it, or my own ego will be satisified. Probably true, but I don’t have all the answers…so I’ll continue to pray. “Dear God, it’s me Margaret AGAIN, about these moobs you gave me…”
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