Prayers and Petitions

Have you ever had one of those light bulb moments? It's a feeling that washes over you, and out of the blue you finally have that moment of clarity and understanding. When I was in college, I often went to bed late at night after a grueling day of working homework problems for some of my math and engineering classes. There were always a few problems that I couldn't quite finish. Many times, I would wrestle with that problem in my dreams and wake up the next morning able to sit down with a pencil and paper and scribble down the solutions to complicated equations that I had solved in my dreams. I attributed that to divine intervention. I figured God was being merciful to me, because he knew I was in over my head.

Yesterday, I had a similar light bulb experience, thankfully not about math problems. I was listening to a woman I know talk about prayer. She made the point that prayer's purpose was not for me to change God's will about what ever was concerning me, but for God to change me so that I could follow his will for my life. "Hello!" I know probably all ya'll mature christians already knew that, and if I thought about it long enough I would have agreed as well. But honestly, I don't think I really have thought, I mean really analyzed my prayers. God's probably rolled his eyes at me on multiple occasions as I posted my "wish list" up to him..."and I'd like this and I'd like that"...instead of praying how I ought to pray, with praise and thankfulness while I petition him for his help.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6

Now that I've got that off my chest, I'll just fess up, that I also don't like it when God says "No". Have you ever had that happen to you? Well it's not fun, and when things don't go my way, I'm sure that I haven't acted like a happy camper. Thankfully, I haven't been struck by lightning for throwing a tantrum when God says "no". He is so patient and kind, much more so than I am with my children, but I'd hate to press him on an issue, just in case, remember Korah in the OT, Numbers 16. (shiver).