Prayer

Last night I was watching the 700 Club. I know that some of you have just had a brain anurism but I watch things for their value and ignore things that are not relevant. I'm not advertising the 700 Club. It is one of those things I wouldn't recommend to those who have weak foundations. However, there are some things I love to watch - digging a well for a community in a faraway land who have no suitable water supply, for example, gives me a thrill. Orphans who are shunned by their people finding a home does, too.


What I saw last night on the 700 Club struck a nerve. This verse was read: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3.5-6)


There in a single verse is my entire philosophy of prayer. I am annoyed by those who say that God always answers prayer, sometimes the answer is just no. That seems rather lame to me. I seldom pray for myself - that's other people's jobs. When I pray it is for others. God has taught me over the years just to trust Him. Things have happened in my life that cannot be explained. I don't ask God for help, He just does it. It's as if I were a small child and my mother and father listen to me but don't necessarily do what I want. Their goal is what is good for me in the long run. That candy looks mighty fine. Why won't they give it to me? They don't care about me. I hate them.


Sadly that's exactly the way people treat God. He's taking care of us but we don't like the way He's doing it so we hate Him. I know someone who is mad at Him because his daddy died on Christmas day. It seems like a good complaint but if you do a little math you'll see how silly it is. There are 6,875,438,181 people in the world as I write this. Considering the number of days in a year as a nice, round 365, that means that about 18,836,817 of us will die on Christmas day. Are all their relatives and friends going to be mad at God?


"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."


My philosophy about prayer is that God answers them all. He doesn't say no. What He does is lead you onto your next path. Accept it and don't try to explain what you don't understand. When I heard the verse above I was astonished that I had never seen the verse this way. Trusting in the Lord with all your heart is your prayer. Not leaning on your own understanding is accepting what path He chooses. Surely you wouldn't want to choose your own path when there's Someone much more qualified. In all your ways acknowledging Him is accepting his choice, whether you like that path or not. He will make your paths straight.


Sometimes trying to understand why He chose the path He did is like trying to understand what is beyond the universe. I have taken a passive role pertaining to me. It is your job to pray for me. It is my job to pray for you. Like the angry child who can't have his candy, we do not understand the effect every move will make on the future. We don't know which way is the right way to get where we're going. God does. We might suffer. But as I said, life is a learning experience. Sometimes you're not the one learning. Sometimes it is those who see you.