Recently, I received a positive answer to some desperate prayers and was again reminded of the beauty of the power of prayer. And in response there were many prayers of thanksgiving and praise for God’s gracious healing power. But then I got to thinking. What if these prayers had not been answered in the way that I wanted them? Would I have so quickly and easily responded with thanksgiving and praise? Are prayers of thanksgiving and praise based on the answer to prayer? Or are we to give praise and thanksgiving in all things. Had my prayers not been answered in the way I hoped, most assuredly my first impulse would have been one of anger. And I’ve been known to challenge God’s wisdom at times. Now, our more fundamental friends of faith would tell me that my faith is not strong enough or that I don’t really trust God with my whole heart. But I don’t buy that. I think this is exactly what God wants us to do. When we don’t “get it”, when we don’t understand what God is doing He wants us to talk to Him, to challenge Him, to take time with Him to understand what His will is. God understands our humanness and is amazingly patient with us. After all, He sent His son to be with us to help us learn about Him and how to live the kind of life He wants for us. And He gave us a direct link to Him–prayer; with no holds barred on what we can bring to Him. And for that gift of free, unlimited access to Him we offer thanks and praise. When we are disappointed by God’s response to our prayers; when our expectations of what God should do are not met, we are called to come to Him in whatever way we need. It is our expectations that disappoint us, not God. So once again, I am reminded to really embrace the phrase I end all prayers with, “and thy will be done”, knowing that God keeps me and all His children in His loving arms.
Lord, thank you for the gracious gift of your power of healing. We thank you for giving us the gift of life to live in the image of your Son, our Savior. We thank you for accepting us no matter where we are in our journey and understanding our humanness. Thank you for giving us the gift of prayer so that we can be reassured that you are no further away than a simple conversation, a time of quiet, or a song of praise. And in all things your will be done. Amen
