Prayer....who does it change?

Have you ever read a quote from a Christian writer which you knew to be true but it was just a little too close to home? Those quotes that just seem to be like the doctor giving you an injection you know you need but ouch do they hurt! One such quote I read recently was from the Puritan Thomas Watson. I have never read a writer who has so many quotes on prayer and not only do they abound in number but they continue to be pithy and get to the heart of the issue. Reading many of them, you would think that they came from the pen of John Piper or some equally contemporary author. It was Watson who came up with the epithet "Praying without faith is like shooting without bullets." He also said "Prayer is a bomb which will make heaven's gates fly open."
(Both these quotes are from "The Godly Man's Picture" which is well worth a read.)

The quote which really grabbed me recently, however, was from his weighty tome "Body Of Divinity". He said, "Many pray 'Let this cup pass away' but few 'Thy will be done'. I also came across a similar quote from Jeff Lucas in the daily bible reading notes he produces for CWR called "Lucas On Life Every Day". He said "The essence of prayer is that I bring my requests to God and ask Him to act. How He responds, who He chooses to use, the method of His action-all of that is up to Him and He owes me no explanations."

When we pray it is true that God often gives us what we ask for. I do believe, however, that an important part of prayer is not us getting God to change us mind or doing what we want but often it is about Him shaping us and Him helping us to be submissive to His will. This is the implication of the two quotes above. Many situations in life are painful and we would rather not go through them. But we must learn to trust Him as our Father working all things together for our good. We must learn that "behind each cloud of Providence, He hides a smiling face."

Matthew Henry, in his excellent little book "Experiencing God's Presence" puts it like this, "God expects and requires our prayers...Thus God will keep us by His authority over us. He will keep us continually mindful of our subjection to Him, which we are apt to forget....By frequent, humble adorations of His perfections, you will make a constant, humble compliance with His will easier for yourself. By doing obeisance, we are learning obedience."

Oh Lord! How much resistance is still in our hearts towards your good, pleasing and perfect will! Help us to adore you in prayer and thus learn subjection to your plan for our lives, especially when that means drinking the cup of bitterness. Amen.

God bless you all.

Andy.