When prayers answered are wrong?

[Anonymous]

I think there are times when we are motivated to do things in prayer that create far-reaching consequences that only God is aware of. This excerpt from a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle illustrates how seemingly miniscule actions on our part, which may not result in anything immediately sensible, can eventually bring other significant events to pass. In this case, the outcome is negative, but I think it can also lead to positive outcomes:

Quote:

Strange it is and wonderful to mark how upon this planet of ours the smallest and most insignificant of events set a train of consequences in motion which act and react until their final results are portentous and incalculable. Set a force rolling, however small; and who can say where it shall end, or what it may lead to! Trifles develop into tragedies, and the bagatelle of one day ripens into the catastrophe of the next. An oyster throws out a secretion to surround a grain of sand, and so a pearl comes into being; a pearl diver fishes it up, a merchant buys it and sells it to a jeweller, who disposes of it to a customer. The customer is robbed of it by two scoundrels who quarrel over the booty. One slays the other, and perishes himself upon the scaffold. Here is a direct chain of events with a sick mollusc for its first link, and a gallows for its last one. Had that grain of sand not chanced to wash in between the shells of the bivalve, two living breathing beings with all their potentialities for good and for evil would not have been blotted out from among their fellows. Who shall undertake to judge what is really small and what is great?

[Anonymous]

Good quote, SD.

But here is what I struggle with…

I could take an extreme long-term view at things…that perhaps my experience looks horrible in the short-term, but I don’t yet know how it will turn out in the long-run or the effects it will have on others.

But if that is the case, do I even bother praying about it…or just stop worrying and just go live life…no need to pray for direction, instead, pray for comfort?

[Anonymous]

Heber13 wrote:

…But if that is the case, do I even bother praying about it…or just stop worrying and just go live life…no need to pray for direction, instead, pray for comfort?

I think perhaps rather than praying for direction OR comfort – one should focus more on gaining wisdom. That is my approach. I pray for wisdom while making decisions, and to gain wisdom from life experiences.

Yeah, perhaps its a play on words, but I don’t think god really cares enough to meddle in the detailed affairs of man. I don’t really expect that anymore – but certainly the physique and the “spirit” can teach us things and help us work through the process of making a tough choice. Not that it comes from god necessarily – but at least it might increase the awareness of the options, and increase the odds of having the desired results and consequences when making the decision.

[Anonymous]

Great way to say it, cwald. That’s essentially my approach now (praying for wisdom) – but it took me a long time to be comfortable with it.

[Anonymous]

I think praying for answers leads to disappointing results sometimes. So does that mean we should not pray for answers? I don’t know. It seems like a good way to make sure you never get a wrong answer ever again. But those kind of risk aversions also keep us from potential rewards. No risk, no reward, as they say.

I would change it to praying for insights, or perhaps call them perspectives. Instead of expecting prayers to result in absolute perfect answers that fulfill every aspect of our need, maybe see prayer instead as a way to gain different perspective. I can especially see that being valuable in approaching an emotionally-charged problem. I’m basically getting at redefining prayer more like meditation, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t prayed for direction much since my failed adoption. That hurt too much — to align your will with something God wanted, not really wanting it at first, to finally feeling warm and spiritual about the whole thing…and then sorely hurt afterwards when it blows up.

I think praying for comfort is valuable. I teach this to my kids and it helps. I think praying for strength is good. I think praying that there will be peace among family members, or for help to achieve something worthwhile is good. Prayer does calm the spirit, and it can help you in teaching your children how to deal with their emotions….

[Anonymous]

Roy wrote:

I posted on another thread about a friend telling my wife that we should pray about what job to pursue.

Heber13 wrote:

But if that is the case, do I even bother praying about it…or just stop worrying and just go live life…no need to pray for direction, instead, pray for comfort?

I would like to echo what others have said about praying for wisdom, strength, patience, insight etc.

Recently a niece scolded her little sister after the prayer for forgeting to bless the food. I shared that for me personally the “blessing on the food” is not a very critical component of the prayer, showing gratitude is. It is not as though we believe the food to be more nutritious after we bless it.

Also the night before a big job interview, I was alone in a hotel room in a distant city and I felt like praying. I told God that what I was doing felt rather ackward as I didn’t expect him to temporarily suspend the agency of the hiring manager to pick the best candidate, nor did I expect him to divinely deny this job to the other candidates who may be just as deserving as I. What I was left with was to pray that God would help me to do my best.

I suppose that I had always felt the best prayers were for internal changes; to help one contribute to a solution, rather than to deliver a bow wrapped solution.

[Anonymous]

Well said, Roy

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