Thoughts on Prayer

One important thing I have come to understand is that Father is not a genie I can get to act in specific ways if I just ask properly. Additionally, I've found that He is interested in what is best for us and others and that His view of that is far more comprehensive than mine. It is also oriented toward eternal, or spiritual, things rather than what is fleeting and temporal.

I believe that Father does sometimes heal people, but I also believe that He is far more interested in people's spiritual wellbeing, maturity, and relationship with Him. When I look at the prayers of the Apostles in scripture, I find requests that are focused on such things. That people would grow up into Christ, that God would strengthen them by His Spirit in their inner being, that people would know the vastness of Father's love for them. Jesus prayed in similar ways. He asked for unity among us, for us to be protected from the evil one, and so on.

I'm not so sure that prayer changes God's mind. Rather, I see prayer more as a conversation with my Father that opens the door for me to better understand what He is doing.

I think that Father gives us things we ask for--scripture is clear on this (see Mattthew 21:22 and John 14:13-14). He does that to show us how He loves us, and He does it just because He is a good Father. He stops short of giving us things that we want simply because they gratify the flesh, however (see James 4:3).

We cannot see what Father sees. Consequently, we often fail to see how He is working for good when outcomes are not those we would prefer, or those we think are best. That can be difficult for us. It's discomforting when we see people suffer despite our prayers, for example.

Nevertheless, it's perfectly OK to pray for what we want. We need never feel bad about doing that. The Bible tells us to give Him all our cares and our anxious thoughts because He cares for us. Yet we also need to remain humble, knowing that He knows much that we do not.

I sometimes pray for healing, but I am far more likely to pray that the Love of God would pervade the situation, that people would be drawn to Him, that people would see Him amid their troubles. I pray for open hearts, ears that are ready to hear, peace and comfort during troubles. For wisdom and insight, for guidance and clarity of mind. Such things leave the outcomes to Father, which is appropriate since I cannot presume to know what outcome is best.

Though it is not prayer in the sense we often understand prayer, I have reflected a great deal of late on Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she told Him about the need for wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1 and following). She did not presume to tell Jesus what to do. She simply stated the problem, “they need wine”, and left everything else to Him. This has significantly impacted my prayer life of late. I want to pray for the sick and for those suffering from the effects of calamity. I want to pray for those who are hurting and those who have suffered great loss. But I have no real idea what is best for them. So lately and increasingly, I find myself simply telling Father about the problems. I find this is a freeing way for me to lay things at His feet without adding my puny earthbound expectations to the mix.