"In honesty you have to admit to a wise man that prayer is not for the wise, not for the prudent, not for the sophisticated. Instead it is for those who recognize that in face of their deepest needs, all their wisdom is quite helpless. It is for those who are willing to persist in doing something that is both childish and crucial."(F. Buechner "Listening to Your Life" p. 231)
I consider myself reasonably smart and prudent. Sophisticated, that's not a word that immediately comes to mind. I also know myself to be a person of prayer. I believe prayer to be a conversation with God, a time where I am reminded of people that matter to me. The place I go when I need to sort things out.
I don't believe prayer to be about wish fulfillment. I do believe that prayer is answered, even if I don't actually understand the answer, or it would not be the answer I expected. I know that prayer is childish in that it involves a certain level of trust, and room for the unknown. I know it to be crucial because when I'm not attentive to my prayer life, things have a habit of going askew.
I know prayer is not for everyone. There are people who have walked away from it because they have been disappointed by the lack of the outcome that they sought. I also know some people who make absolute statements about prayer who have to do some real mental gymnastics to explain why prayer didn't work.
Blessings,
Ed
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