“And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” Matthew 21:22

Prayer Changes Things

When I was growing up my mother had a bookmark with a picture of praying hands on it, and under it these three words, “Prayer Changeth Things.” But what does prayer change if we don’t always get what we pray for. Many years ago a cousin called to tell me that he was being treated for cancer, but he was confident it was curable. I told him I would keep him in my prayers. However, over time, things got progressively worse and he died, and I remember feeling let down and just a little angry with God. Why hadn’t he answered my prayers? I wrestled with that for a while, but then I realized that I had been doing all the talking and not enough listening to what God might have had to say to me. Had I been listening I might have had something meaningful to say to my cousin in those last days of his life. So prayer does indeed change things. It changes us in profound ways. How God responds to our prayers is a mystery, but when we open ourselves up to the creative spirit of God our prayers can make a difference. So let us enter into that mystery as we journey together through the Lenten season.

gracedeacon@gwi.net