Elisabeth Elliot in Keep a Quiet Heart asks "Why Bother to Pray?" I have asked and still ask the same question. Because if God is sovereign and eternal, would I make a difference?
Up to this point of time, what I can make out is that prayer is truly mysterious. However I try to understand prayer, it escapes me. But I will continue to do so and not be satisfied by it just being mysterious.
Meanwhile, I am going to pray anyway because God told us to. Jesus prays, Paul prays, and so should I.
pearlie
Picture by Markus Biehal
When I was younger prayer seemed to be a wish list in a way. Now it’s time, time with God for me to let what’s in my heart out. He already knows He just wants us to be one on one with Him to let it out. That’s my view on it.
ReplyDeleteGood thoughts. I believe that too, that we be one on one with Him trashing out whatever's in our mind and heart. I am ok with that. What I need to work out is the asking. I don't know what to ask and how to ask because to him, they're already out there. Who am I to change God's mind? Can His mind be changed in the first place?
ReplyDeleteI see what you mean. So things I do believe that we are powerless because God has made that decision. I can think of once when I asked knowing that nothing would change and that was when my mother was laying dead in the hospital. I asked that she be alive and with me. But to ask that a sinner make his way to God or to ask that an illness be taken away only makes sense. Yet we know that sometimes the illness is going to stay. Sometimes our answer is no. Sometimes it no because I said so. God is our Father. We also have examples in the Bible where it says God heard their prayers and . . . .You can find so many examples in the Bible like 2 Chronicles 30:27. Perhaps prayer is just for our comfort I have no way of knowing at this time on this earth but I know that I have lots of examples of God listening.
ReplyDeleteHold fast to those prayers and keep searching because we all learn from searching. Thanks for sharing your heart.
Praying for you and your love ones so far and yet so close to us.
There you have even touched a deeper vein. How and what to pray in times of suffering, in time of death? Even in my own suffering, I can manage to continually pray for strength and just trust Him for his care. But when others are suffering, I pray but I find it hard to then walk away back to where I was. I think prayer is more than for our comfort. I just can't yet pin it down.
ReplyDeletePraying for you too and your loved ones. God bless!
hi milly and pearlie,
ReplyDeletePersonally I agree with pearlie that prayer is more than for our comfort. Otherwise why will our Lord Jesus asks us to pray? This means that the act of praying is important. Does God answers our prayer? I believe He does. Only in His own way, not the way we expect Him to.
I always think of our children when I think of prayers. Do we give them everything they ask for? In the way they want it? But we do have their overall welfare at heart.
What happens when we do not know what to pray? Maybe it is time then to let the Holy Spirit in us to pray for us :)
I just can't yet pin it down.
ReplyDeleteI'll be giving it much more thought now.
Thanks Alex for your thoughts. Good ones ... I agree but I still struggle with it. Whatever conclusions I come to seem to either diminish the sovereignty of God or make us automatons.
ReplyDeleteNo worries, I am thinking ... for an unexamined life is not worth living - being very Socrates lately (haha ... you can tell what I am reading - i am really enjoying the book now)
Milly,
ReplyDeleteThis morning, wanting to further explore prayer, I picked up a book on prayer by EM Bounds. I have a classic collection of his writings on prayer. He was truly a man of prayer. I was reading his biography over breakfast and fighting hard not to cry in public!!! I suggest you get a copy too.
If it interests you, the copy I have is this one here. I am not sure if it the same one in Amazon though. But at 622 pages, it's gotta be the complete works on prayer. God bless!
I'll add it to my list of needs. Ok wants. ;-}
ReplyDeleteI posted some time back on my prayers I think i need to repost it. It might get a "Me too" or a smile out of some.