Prayer

It was said by Alfred Lord Tennyson, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” It is a great quote, but I’m not really sure what he meant by it. Prayer is an interesting idea. Through some simple words or thoughts we place ourselves into the presence of the Almighty with the expectations that some sort of definitive action will be taken … healing, traveling mercies, protection, victory, etc.

The theological sticking point is, why does it seem that some prayers are answered while others go unanswered? It is one question for which there isn’t any good answer. To respond with the trite phrase, “Well, sometimes God’s answer is NO,” simply sidesteps the issue … at least in my thinking.

And then there is the religious practice of making the sign of the cross or “crossing yourself” in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If you watch any sports event you can see it happen at various times during the game. It is an action that asks for God’s protection and/or success in the endeavor about to be undertaken.

I am reminded of a funny event during a World Series baseball game. Yogi Berra was catching; it was a tight and well-fought game. A batter came to the plate and crossed himself. Yogi asked for a time out, stood up taking his catcher’s mitt and acted like he was erasing the sign of the cross saying, “Let’s just let God watch the game!”

Prayer is a spiritual discipline and a statement of trust. We pray, we trust and then we go forth to take action believing that God has heard us, is in agreement with us and will watch our backside as “we boldly go where no one has gone before” (to borrow a phrase from one of my favorite movies). Maybe I'm reading into to Mr. Tennyson's words, but for me the "wrought by prayer” idea is not that God did it, but empowered us or gave us the courage, through the Holy Spirit, to get it done. That would kind of make Prayer an action verb wouldn’t it?

Quote for today: “My kids have given me a glimpse of how God must feel. God looks at us, like, ‘Oh, good grief…you’re driving me crazy, but I still love you.’” Jeff Foxworthy