an amateur understanding of how prayers work

Say we watch our little kids learn how to walk and they fall often. Sometimes they will stand up by themselves, and learn more about how to walk correctly.

Sometimes they do not want to get up by themselves and cry for help. Then as parents, our first instinct is to give them whatever they want. But at a second thought, we might need to consider if it is a good idea. Will it be better not to help this time so that they could learn something, such as they should not scatter the toys on the ground? It is for sure that if they really get hurt, we would run to rescue them.

So again, God is like the perfect parent. We send out our cry for help. He will not hesitate to give us what we truly need. But sometimes he let us figure out how to stand up on our own, in order that we could build our characters, or learn from our mistakes.

Also, through prayers we ask for God's attention. He might not interfere if we do not send him the invitation. But once we do, he will make sure there will be some good out of it.

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In "Prayer", Philip Yancey says that prayers help us have God's perspective. By praying, we could understand more of whom God designed us to be and what we could do for him, in addition to asking him to rescue us from the mess we have made.

I agree.

a quick prayer

Lord, I pray for your guidance and for my patience. I pray that we have peace, that we would be able to let go things and that we would be simply grateful for you alone. I pray that you transform us everyday to be more humble and loving towards each other.

Amen.

lent related resolution

My current roommate is Catholic. We have been talking about lent. I thought it was a nice idea to give up something for a period of time as a constant reminder of the sacrifice God made for us. I wanted to do something too.

So I talked to another friend about it. He was for the idea, but he warned me of the possibility of setting myself up for sinning if I do not think it through. It would be a covenant between me and God. If I put myself in a situation where I only have a slim chance not to fail, I would be doing something consciously and stupidly to sin against God.

It made sense, but I was somehow discouraged.

Then during our lifegroup last night, we happened to be talking about giving up something so that we could give something to others for the month of March. I guess this is probably more realistic for me. I will not make a covenant with God. Instead, it will be something we do as a group to practice our characters. So if I fail, which does not mean I won't try my very best, I won't be sinning against God directly and I could ask for grace.

This still sounds a little bit tricky to me. But right now I am settling for this idea. For example, I could give up spending time on internet and use the time to pray for other people.

To be precise, my resolution for this March will be:
1. no Chinese websites except my chinese blog;
2. no blog reading except my own;
3. no gchatting.

My main focus would be on reading the Bible or the "prayer" book by Philip Yancey, praying for people I know or I don't know, and being a good worker.

dilemma

I am tired of those who complains a lot about the way they are treated and then treat others the same way.

I am tired of those who make promises to get together and never put in any effort to make it happen.

Unfortunately some of those are very good people, in the moral sense. I debate with myself whether or not I should try to keep them in my life. It does not seem to be worthy of my efforts.

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"The screwtape letters" is so sobering that sometimes reading this book makes me feel like someone was shaking my shoulders to wake me up from an illusion the devil created in my head.

"...because he is aware of a 'deeper', 'spiritual' world within him which they cannot understand....Thus, while being permanently treacherous to at least two sets of people, he will feel, instead of shame, a continual undercurrent of self-satisfaction."

I would be lying if I deny that I had never had such moments that gave me a hint of self-satisfaction. I am still struggling to find the best way, or God's way to interact with different people, which would be pure, loving and humble.

reflection

I was reading "the screwtape letters" during my last NY trip. It had been a while since I felt my faith was at a plateau again. Sometimes it felt alright. Sometimes it brought me frustrations because I was not sure if there was a growth at all. In one of the chapters the senior devil taught the young devil exactly how to lead people to focus on the big ideas of faith instead of humbly relying on God each day. It was quite refreshing and calming to me.

Everything has a season. Maybe I am having the season of resting. As long as I am still holding onto God, I shouldn't feel bad about not seeing any dramatic change in my or other's life. It is great that some people are witnessing life transformation, like what I heard at church today, but it is not necessarily where God puts me right now.

Overall my relationships have been good. I still have some deep struggles in my marriage, where I really should put more trust in God's power. Also, I got frustrated by a few friendships. But God knows my heart. He knows what I want and that I have been working on those issues. He has rewarded me for my efforts. And I have been blessed with some new friends in my life.

I liked chapter 29 in "the screwtape letters" a lot. It talks about how God uses dangerous times to test our virtues, how righteous action matters even though we might not have the right mind in us, and how we shouldn't let our fear or insurity control us (eg. having a backup plan is not really a good idea. Instead, we should stop overthinking and just trust in God). These messages speak to me. I pray God would help me carry them through.

just a guess

Sometimes it feels like God answers part of my prayer just to reassure me of his power so that I would have more patience to wait for the final good.