Faith Friday (on a Saturday): Prayer

Life on the weekends has been so crazy lately that I've flat missed two Faith Fridays in a row!

And then yesterday, I just flat forgot.  Ooops!

So, even though today is Saturday, I am sitting down and writing a Faith Friday post.

Today's topic--prayer.

I've already written a post discussing God's omniscience.

So, if God is all-knowing, why do we bother praying?

I mean, He already knows what we need, want, think about, etc.

The first reason for prayer is one that I've heard off and on my entire life.

We're God's creations and our Creator enjoys hearing from us from time to time.

 I'm completely on board with this.

 I don't believe in the Clock-Maker theory of God--that is to say, He created everything and then stepped completely back to watch creation play out.

Maybe I'll write a post about WHY I don't believe that some day, but for now, let's just say I don't.

So, I believe in a God who loves what He created.

It make sense that He, like the Father-figure He is often represented as, would want to hear from His kiddos.

There's another reason that states that God has all these gifts He wants to give us and we have to ask in order to receive them.

 On the one hand, this makes God seem a bit petty--Yes I have this shiny happy thing I've meant for you but you have to ask before I give it to you.

 On the other hand, this falls into my ideas about free will.

God doesn't force us down a particular path--we make choices.

So, we have to make the decision to ask God for something--direction, for example--and we have to make the decision to accept what He might give us before He is able to act directly in our lives.

And just as an addendum that I find VERY important.

Even if you ask God for something and are willing to accept His gift--GOD SAYS NO.

It's not always "God I want this."

"Yes my child, here you go!"

When I discussed my views on God's Plan, I mentioned that I see God as having an ideal path for us to travel.

If we ask Him for something that goes against that ideal, of course He's not going to give it to us.

After all, we make plenty of decisions that go against that ideal without His help!

Anyway, back to prayer.

There is a third reason for praying that I didn't realize existed until I was in college.

Once upon a time, the hubby and I hit a very rough spot and ended up going and talking to a counselor a couple of times.

Each time that I saw her, I did most of the talking.

She would ask me questions from time to time, but the purpose of those questions was to hold a verbal mirror up in front of me so that I could more clearly see what I was feeling, who I was, and what I really wanted and needed.

In short, our talks allowed me to find the answers I needed inside myself.

I see prayer as often serving the same purpose.

God's character is constant, as is the way He sees us, His children.

So talking to Him is the same as peering into a verbal mirror whose reflection is of our true and best self.

Sure, there are times He leads us to the answers (see point #2) but many times while talking to Him, knowing who He is and how He see us, we realize that we already had the answers we were seeking inside of ourselves.

Oh, and another reason for prayer?

It's therapeutic!

Sometimes, even though we know He knows, and we're not really looking for any particular assistance, it just feels good to talk to God and get whatever might be going on--the good, the bad, and the ugly--off our chests.

And my last and most favorite reason for prayer--just taking the opportunity to acknowledge how blessed and lucky I am in my own life with a big ole "Thank you!"

Because, even with free will, God still put everything in motion and, dadgum it, the Supreme Being deserves a bit of appreciation thrown His way every now and then!

Now, I'm going to head to bed.

Bryan and I are actually making good on our Church Shopping plans from October and visiting a church tomorrow!  Here's hoping it's what we're looking for!