A Word About Prayer
In the course of a day, I often receive emails about, or hear people discussing praying for someone or something. This may be praying for someone’s health or for rain or for prosperity or any number of other reasons.
Let me just say that I very much believe in the power of prayer. I also believe there is no “right way” or “wrong way” to pray. I believe you can pray while sitting in a Church with head bowed and hands clasped, or on your morning commute to work. Either can do the soul good!
Here is something else I believe though. I believe that just because you pray for something, doesn’t mean you’re going to get it. Praying that God will dig you out of the hole you’re in and make you the wealthiest person on the planet will do no good if you sit by idly and wait for something to happen.
Here is a little story that I’m fond of and helps to illustrate my point. (If you’ve heard this before, bear with me)
A man is sitting on the roof of his house as he watches the flood waters rise increasingly fast. He begins to pray that God will save him from the flood. Soon…a rescue boat comes by and the occupants yell at the man, “come on, hurry, get in the boat!” The man yells back, “no thanks! Go pick up someone else…God is going to save me!”. The boat moves on.
As the man continues to pray, a second boat comes by, as does a third. Each time the man on the roof tells the boats to go get someone else, that God will save him.
Eventually, the flood waters cover the house, and the man drowns. At the gates of Heaven, the man meets St. Peter and says, “St. Peter…what happened? I prayed really hard that God would save me, but he never came? Why did he leave me there on top of that house?”
St. Peter says, “good gosh man…we sent 3 rescue boats by to pick you up! Why didn’t you just get in one?!?!”
Yes…I believe prayer is very powerful. I also believe that God helps those who help themselves. You can have anything you want if you pray, and then prove to God that you’re willing to work to make things better by taking action yourself. Money, prosperity and better health won’t fall out of the sky, but it will come if you take action. I’m sure of it!
