"Prayer Changes Things!" This is what people say, but is this the actual purpose for which God has told us to pray? To change things? Really?
This might be one of those glib maxims that feels good to roll off the tongue but in reality, misses the mark. More accurately stated, wouldn't prayer be best and most beneficially viewed as a spiritual conduit to God, designed to change the person, which in turn changes things?
It may seem a little thing, however, the difference to me (and how I manage my personal life as well as my portrait studio) not only puts the emphasis on how I look at my external world (i.e. my attitude) but my response to it.
Suddenly, instead of viewing prayer as a magical charm that mystically changes my physical world, it changes me to look for where my responsibility lies. Prayer is not only about waiting on God and trusting He will alter my circumstances, but earnestly ready to see where God is moving and what path He'd have me follow.
Yes, we might say "prayer changes things," nevertheless, for us to experience all that God has in store, it might be better understood as the single most direct channel to change us, who then changes things.
Prayer does alter the world around us, but it does so when we are vigilant to how we might put into practice the words we hear in our Daily Quiet Time that continually transforms our character.
Your thoughts?
ADDENDUM: Shortly after writing today's blog post I had to rush out to Riverside, where I am on a committee to plan my 40th High School Reunion. As I was driving up Van Buren, just shy of Washington, I spotted a billboard sign on my left. You guessed it! In bold letters, it read, "Prayers Changes Things." I don't pretend to know definitively what this "coincidence" portends, but I took it as confirmation...
This might be one of those glib maxims that feels good to roll off the tongue but in reality, misses the mark. More accurately stated, wouldn't prayer be best and most beneficially viewed as a spiritual conduit to God, designed to change the person, which in turn changes things?
It may seem a little thing, however, the difference to me (and how I manage my personal life as well as my portrait studio) not only puts the emphasis on how I look at my external world (i.e. my attitude) but my response to it.
Suddenly, instead of viewing prayer as a magical charm that mystically changes my physical world, it changes me to look for where my responsibility lies. Prayer is not only about waiting on God and trusting He will alter my circumstances, but earnestly ready to see where God is moving and what path He'd have me follow.
Yes, we might say "prayer changes things," nevertheless, for us to experience all that God has in store, it might be better understood as the single most direct channel to change us, who then changes things.
Prayer does alter the world around us, but it does so when we are vigilant to how we might put into practice the words we hear in our Daily Quiet Time that continually transforms our character.
Your thoughts?
ADDENDUM: Shortly after writing today's blog post I had to rush out to Riverside, where I am on a committee to plan my 40th High School Reunion. As I was driving up Van Buren, just shy of Washington, I spotted a billboard sign on my left. You guessed it! In bold letters, it read, "Prayers Changes Things." I don't pretend to know definitively what this "coincidence" portends, but I took it as confirmation...
Mark
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