MUSINGS ABOUT PRAYER 05/28/2010 Dad

Now here’s the deal about prayer. I don’t understand it. I have read books about the proper methods of prayer, I have heard teaching and sermons about it; Jesus made a point to tell His disciples how to pray; and He prayed for them (Jn 17). Paul said to “…pray without ceasing…” (1 Thes. 5:17), and James tells us that, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (Jms 5:16). Obviously, I’m not a righteous man, according to Ps 14:3 and Rom 3:10, but then who is? So, who does God listen to, and does He change His mind if the right people pray? He is the Alpha and Omega (Rev 21:6); He knows the beginning from the end. Nothing touches us that doesn’t pass through His hands first (Matt 28:20). Some of you are probably saying at this point, “I need to send Kent that book I read about prayer.” I’ve probably already read it, or one like it. I understand all the theology behind prayer, but I still don’t understand prayer. The simplest analogy my limited mind can understand is that our talking to God is like our children talking to us when they were little. We have a much better view of things than a small child and we know what is going to be best in the long run. We want them talking to us because we love them and want the communication to build the relationship. We already know what the answer is going to be, but we want them to participate because they are an intricate part of our family and who we are. But we’re not going to let them hurt themselves, unless they pester us to the point we let them hurt themselves a bit to teach a lesson. If they quit talking to us it’s because there is something wrong with the relationship. I think God wants us talking to Him, and I think He listens, and I think He responds in a way that protects us in the long run and is consistent with His sovereign attributes.

As my old friend Charlie says, I have been “pondering” this today. We’ve had a rough week, and a lot of people told us they were praying. Some would call it coincidental; some would just write it off to medical procedure. Call it whatever you like, but I believe the vast improvement in Janice’s condition the last two days has had everything to do with all of your prayers. Her white blood cell count went from 2.9 (very bad) on Monday to 7.0 (good) today with only 3 of the 10 shots they had intended to give her. They’re going to give her one more tomorrow and cancel the rest for now. After two hydration treatments she went from hardly being able to hold her head up to harassing Debra today and eating almost a whole Monster Taco from Del Taco. If all remains well, she will be able to take her chemo next week. Though I’m not sure how prayer works, I believe with all my being that it is critical, and we deeply appreciate all of you. Keep it up and thank you.

The picture below is of one of the small groups of Lisa’s sixth grade class after they chose to spend some time praying in school for Lisa’s mom. That was earlier in the week and what a difference we saw from Monday to Thursday. And, yes, my questioning friends, it is a private Christian school. They can do that kind of stuff and it meant a great deal to our family.
Kent