Be Careful What You Pray For...or not...

A friend of mine told me the other day (for those of you who know me, you know that really means a few months ago) that he is afraid to pray for things to happen in his life because his faith is so strong that he knows God will provide.  The example he gave described how he got his job. He really needed a job. After he earned his master's degree, he really needed a job. He prayed for one.  He sent 50 resumes to companies and businesses all over Indonesia...only to be offered a job by a company to whom he did not apply and to be located in a city in which he didn't want to live. But hey! It's a job and I asked for it, God gave it so I'll take it. (and I sure won't ask for anything else!)

Yeah.  I understand that thinking and surely I'd be scared too if I thought praying was like placing an order in a vending machine! The good that came out of that conversation is two-fold. It helped me remember what I'll talk about below and I also found this awesome quote attributed to John Paul Jones:

If fear is cultivated it will become stronger, if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery.

Although not quite a "prayer warrior" (truly pray without ceasing), prayer is mandatory for me and I do pray often. I pray enough that some friends have asked me why I don't genuflect after praying (because I'm a Protestant Christian, only Catholics do that...I think), after saying grace in my head before a meal, maybe "that took longer than usual - what did you say?" and "are you sleepy?" ("No, sorry, just had to let something go for a minute").  I can and do pray anytime.

"Let go and let God"; that used to be a popular sticker on cars and I never understood what it meant...let me assure you I know now.

When we pray the Lord's prayer "..Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven", we are not asking for ourselves or our goals, but asking that the will of God happens (and that's a good thing since our wills are often at odds with the wills of others)

When I pray, I try to remember to give thanks. I try to remember certain people who need prayerful attention. I try to remember to be focused and respectful. And I certainly ask that God's will be done very often, because I trust Him more than I trust me.

Usually nothing worthwhile is ever easy, but there's one exception. Let go and let God.  I don't know of anything easier...or of anything more worthwhile.