INSIDE OUT

By this I mean, when you are asking God for something specific. I really want to believe it does. But in all honesty, do we really "know" if it does or not? Can we really honestly say that God answers our prayer? I can give you umpteen examples of prayers that haven't been "answered". I can hear some of you saying now, "sometimes an unanswered prayer IS an answered prayer!" Maybe. But what if the opposite happens? Might this too be an answer to prayer? What about those who pray to other gods. Might their god be answering their prayer if every request, whether answered or not, was an "answer to prayer" by their god? With this logic, why would anyone with false gods believe otherwise?

My spouse and I were discussing this thought and he mentioned that the word, "prayer" needs to be understood. What is prayer? Is it a conversation? Perhaps my use of the word prayer, here in the title, might read, "Does having a conversation with God really work?" I know that I probably ask more from God than I actually "converse" with him. I think I need to "converse" with God more.

I'm not sure why, but, it really bothers me when I hear people sometimes say things like, "Praise the Lord! We made it across the river!!!" What do they mean by this? Is it really God's doing that you rowed your oar in the direction you were headed? Did you only make it there because of God's ordained calling on your life to make it across the river? What if you didn't make it across the river? Would you then praise God? "Shouldn't" you then praise God? I guess the bible talks about this: Matthew 10:31(NAS) Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Is giving glory to God the same as giving him credit for crossing the river? Is giving glory to God the same as giving him credit for drowning after being attacked by a crocodile? At what point do we need to "give glory to God?" When we teach our kids their ABC's? When we tie our shoe? When we go to the bathroom? Is it obvious to everyone else? It seems, to me, quite puzzling.

I want to honor God with my life. I want to remain true to who He is without all this Christian-eze talk. I want my "thanks" to be meaningful. The only examples given by Jesus of prayer, in the gospels are: Matt. 6:5-15 (NAS) 5 "When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. "But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. [(Maybe we need to rethink this "grace" thing we do in restaurants. And what about in churches?? (Oh, that's another post)]

The words of Jesus goes on to say, 7 "And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words. 8 "So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. 9 "Pray, then, in this way: `Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 `Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 11 `Give us this day our daily bread. 12 `And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 `And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

The other is when Jesus was praying to his father in the garden of Gethsemane: Mark 14:36(NAS) And He was saying, "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will."

It seems as though this "conversation" to God is about Him and HIS will. In the first example, it seems that Jesus' focus was on the things of the "Kingdom," Talking to God about how to better the Kingdom. Not about what God can do for us in our Earthly endeavours. Jesus did want the "cup" removed from him and felt the need to request it be taken from him. In the end, however, it was the kingdom that was his main focus. God have your will done. So taking this last example from Jesus, let us send our requests to him. The question though, is if we "don't" pray, will God then, not be able to have his will done?

ANSWER TO PRAYER OR HAPPENSTANCE?

Does God allow things to happen according to natural consequences? Does he change his mind if we "pray" and ask him to? Do some of these happen at various times? I know in the Old Testament they sat in sackcloth a lot. It seemed like change came because of repentance, not, as some believe, because of requests. When someone says, "God answered my prayer" are they making a false statement if it was the will of happenstance? If God really had no direct intervention then anyone and everyone who "prays" to God will have no choice but to say that God answerd my prayer! It seems quite generic if every single time you "prayed" it was answerd by God. Why do some say that? With the previous logic, God answers EVERY "prayer" request! Not just one particular prayer for that one particular circumstance!

What if it really was God that intervened and what if it wasn't? Should we pay homage to God "just in case"? It's this, "just in case" that bothers me, I suppose. I suppose I want to have integrity in my thanks to God. If something happened only because I made a "choice" or someone else made a choice, why would I thank God? Is ALL thanks merely an indirect thanks toward God? I would tire if one of my kids came up to me all throughout the day and said, "I caught the ball!! Thanks mom. Hey, I peed! Thanks mom. I took another bite! Thanks mom... you get my point. As a parent, when my children are still "drinking milk", I will keep them close and help guide their every decision. Once they are more mature, however, I want them to let go and do what it is that "they" would like to do. I want them to make decisions for themselves and be proud of "their own" choices and the natural consequences that follow. I would hope that God doesn't need me to ask him for things or thank him for things such as these prior things mentioned. It does beg the question, "other than asking for his will to be done, what need I ask for?"