I have lived a life where I look at prayer from the eye of a
statistician and think of probabilities rather than chance. Most people in the
world either think of pray as folly or think it’s a motion you do in hopes God
is listening. The first group if they believe in a higher power it’s usually a
force that is in the universe that we interact with and since though is energy
our thoughts interact to get what we want. So a “prayer” is just summonsing the
universe to give you your desires.
The other side of the coin is the believers in God who feel
God has too much on His plate to deal with “little ole me”. Often they get
offended at God when things do not go as they feel it should. Prayers to many
believers seem to be a waste since so often the go unanswered.
As a believer in prayer and it’s power I must say that many
of mine go unanswered, but I don’t look at them as God ignoring me but rather
using his divine will. He knows what is better than I do. Now the “Secret”
believers will say the universe is allowing us to adjust our desires since many
times and instant granting will mean disaster. I feel God does not “grant” our “wishes”
all the time since he will know the resulting problems. I can think of a few “real
world” examples that show God.
First will be an unanswered prayer I have had. I was in
debt, huge debt, and was needing an influx for peace. I prayed for the “ultimate”
windfall, winning the Lottery. For years I prayed and prayed as the debt
increased. Heck this blog was started in hopes someone would read it and
publish it, creating a windfall like the Julia Childs cooking blog. What I did
not realize is God realized it would not solve my problem of spending. Sure I
still like buying stuff, but it is no longer a debt thing but rather from
excess. We painfully paid off the debt and started over. God knew my pray was
not to be answered when I wanted it!!
Second was a simple prayer Katy had during a project. She had
hired some friends who were down and out. They were working on a project in the
basement of our shop a 5000 square foot build out. The guys had left one
evening and she needed on of the tools they were using, her favorite green impact
driver. It was not to be found, for an hour we looked. The accusations were the
workers took it to sell, so the blood started to boil. Before she blew up she
prayed that God would show her where the tool was before she falsely accused
these guys. At that moment she looked up and saw it. Before you say it was easy
since it was up, I looked at the location and where the tool was could only be
seen in a 1 to 2 square foot area of that 5000 square feet. God answered a
simple prayer.
Third is a prayer over me. I died last year from a cardiac
arrest. After 5 minutes of turning blue the EMT’s worked on me for 45 more. So
I could not sustain my life for almost an hour. Once in the hospital they
induced a coma and I was out for a few days. My family was being told if I did
come back I would not be “normal” as my brain was without oxygen for too long. Some
women from church, Amiee and Patty, prayed over me while I was under. I started
to come out of the induced coma and respond to their prayers. The nurse freaked
and told them I could not come out, she told them to stop praying!! A day later
I came to cracking jokes.
Finally I want to look at prayer that has jaded some. We
have had a person enter our lives who has lived a life of torture and pain.
Because of this she has suffered physically and mentally and we have asked God
to deliver her. For two plus years the situation has gotten better, but also we
have seen them almost die more than once. Her health has been touch and go the
whole time, where she has either been beaten within an “inch” or sick to the
point she shuts down. That has left Katy jaded since if God cared she would be
healed. It’s not that the prayers have not been given, but that they appear to
be unanswered. The cliché of “in God’s time” doesn’t help when you hear stories
of the lame walking instantly. So now her prayers have stopped and if they are
lifted, profanity is included.
We have 4 examples of prayers unanswered and answered,
simple ones to life or death and we see God is over all. Our prayers are our
will, but ultimately are God’s to answer. Often we hate the answer but need to
understand there is more than just our narrow view. I don’t know why little
Johnny died or why Sue can’t walk but I do know God’s glory will shine if not
in this world but in the “end”.