more thoughts on prayer

Last week I was invited to participate in an annointing service for my best friend's daughter. She has a congenital health condition, but now is having symptoms that may be physical, emotional, or spiritual -- perhaps a combination of all three. Traditional medical treatment and counselling have not helped, so they decided to have an annointing service and ask God for divine intervention. I was grateful to be asked to take part in the service, and I thought I would share my thoughts:

First, I was amazed to find that this young woman has many of the same questions as I do in regard to prayer. Why does God choose to do miracles sometimes, but seems to ignore our requests at other times? My young friend recounted a time when she was on a missionary trip, and a woman desperately needed a miracle. The group prayed earnestly, yet no miracle seemed to happen. Why wouldn't God intervene, at a time when thousands could have been impacted, in addition to the woman who was desperate for healing?

In my friend's case, she was hesitant to have the annointing, because, as she put it, "If I pray and ask Him for healing, and I put my faith in Him, and he doesn't do anything, I don't want to be disappointed." What are we mere mortals to do with this? I feel the same way so often. What right have I to even ask Him? (The answer, of course, is that throughout the Bible, He encourages us, even commands us to ask Him for whatever we need).

The biggest problem, for me, is that while He promises to hear my prayers, even to answer them, He never promises that the answer will be "Yes," or even, "maybe," or even to give me a response at all. That is so frustrating! I am to ask Him, to expect that whatever His response is, that it is what is best, and to trust Him to do what is right, all the while knowing that like Job, I may be left in the dark my entire life in regard to what His answer is or why the answer comes the way it does.

Then, I can't shake the question: If I pray for healing, such as for my friend, and God has other plans, is it still worth asking in the first place? Why should I ask him to help someone, if he already has a plan for that person? Is he going to change his plans, or change his mind just because I, or someone else, or a whole group of people, or even millions of people ask him? I think of Abraham pleading for God to be lenient with the people in Sodom. I think of the Israelites asking God for a King. I know that God could agree to change his mind, but would I want him to give me what I want instead of what He knows is right?

So many questions! For those of you that follow this blog regularly, you know this has been a lengthy struggle. I have searched the scriptures, I have read book after book on prayer, and I am even praying about praying! What I am finding is that God, for now, wants me to learn through experience. He wants me to "try him out for size" as the saying goes. So, here I am, praying, hoping, that my friend will find healing, and that in the process, I will keep learning with each step, as I practice praying in different manners and for different things, and as I keep growing in my relationship with my maker and king.