I was watching the news the other night and all the news station were covering the story on Cardinal George's health problems with bladder cancer. One thing mentioned consistently was that people were praying for Cardinal George. However, a few comments or responses really drew my attention as parishioners talked about praying for the Cardinal.
One individual said, "All we can do is pray", while another said they were "grateful our prayers are working". As I started thinking about these comments, I was thinking about what prayer is.
By saying, "All we cand do is pray", it almost sounded like prayer was a last resort. We can't do anything else, so I guess we can pray. But for the believer, prayer (dependence upon God) is to be a way of life. Prayer should be our first response when times are tough and when times are great. It is a privilege that we have to converse with God, to cast our cares upon Him; every care.
The comment concerning being grateful our prayers are working made me think that individuals sometimes think our prayers don't work. Are we trying real hard to convince God to take our side. Prayer is depending upon God. When we depend on God, our attitude should be that God's will is best. God does not always answer our prayers the way we want, but He always answers our prayers. (yes, no, wait). I don't really think of our prayers as working or not working. Our prayers don't tell God anything new. We have the opportunity to depend on God in all aspects of our lives, and we rejoice whether our prayers are answered they way we wanted or not. We realize that we are depending upon God who is far wiser and greater than we are. He is in control of all things.
I don't say these things to bash people praying for Cardinal George. I say these things because I really think people don't even understand what prayer is. Prayer is a privilege for the believer. An access that the child of God has before his/her Father. I guess when I hear comments like these, I wonder if those folks even have a relationship with the Father and if they even have access to the Throne of Grace.
Praise the Lord for prayer!
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