Prayer

I've been thinking an awful lot about prayer in the past year. One year ago I was pleading with God incessantly to get me out of a town/job that were unfulfilling to me. He obliged. And the timing was perfect, I might ad. But prayer has had me somewhat stumped.

I began thinking, maybe our prayers have become too self-centered. Maybe we expect that just because we ask God for something, He's going to give it to us. Maybe we feel like we deserve things or are entitled to them. Whatever they are, it can be crushing when it doesn't align with God's will. Oddly enough through all the struggles of last year, I felt at peace with accepting His will.

So my connundrum comes with me asking myself what can my prayers change? Who am I to argue with God's will and who am I to assume I know what I or others need? I started thinking about prayer in the Bible, the most important being The Lord's Prayer. The Message puts it this way:

"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best— as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes."

I love the idea of praying simply. That prayer pretty much covers all of our needs. Pray it daily!

Sometimes I think we pray to comfort ourselves. If we can just petition God about this, we will feel like we've done something. So I started thinking about Jesus praying in the garden.

"Then Jesus went with them to a garden called Gethsemane and told his disciples, 'Stay here while I go over there and pray.' Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he plunged into an agonizing sorrow. Then he said, 'This sorrow is crushing my life out. Stay here and keep vigil with me.' Going a little ahead, he fell on his face, praying, 'My Father, if there is any way, get me out of this. But please, not what I want. You, what do you want?'"

His human side is making one last-ditch effort to say "Man, I really don't think I can do this!" But even through his sorrow and anguish, he is ever conscious that God's will is more powerful than his desires, and ultimately more important! Could Jesus have changed God's mind with this plea? Thankfully not!

Take what you will from this. I hope it means something to someone. For now, I'm changing the way I pray. Simplifying.

Update: Glenn and I were discussing this and he brought up a point that I thought extremely relevant. Sometimes we think that by praying we are not worrying, when in fact we usually are. Just another thought.