  When faced with a dilemma or personal tragedy too large for any human being to handle, I have sometimes thrown up my hands and said: "All I can do is pray."
Over the years, I have come to realize how ridiculous such a statement really is. It's as though I were to become frustrated with a piggy bank I couldn't open and to say: "Well, all I can do is light this stick of dynamite and hope that it blows things apart."
That's what prayer is like - a spiritual explosive with the power to reconfigure the natural world.
That doesn't mean that every prayer we utter will result in a miracle.
Despite our longings, a miracle may be the last thing we need. But it does mean that our requests are heard by the highest authority in the universe, by the only one both powerful enough and wise enough to answer our prayers effectively.
Like anything else, prayer takes practice. To learn to pray is to learn at least two basic lessons: surrender and persistence... The first step... is to ask for grace to let go of our desire to control both the method and the outcome [of our prayer]. As we do this, we will find our anxiety ebbing and a new peace taking hold as the Spirit reshapes our prayer according to God's will.
You may be thinking right now of an urgent prayer. Perhaps you have been praying this prayer for some time. Try to quiet yourself in the presence of God. Ask him to deal with your anxiety and show you how to pray so that you might take your place next to Jesus, who is always interceding at the Father's right hand.
-When You Need a Miracle: Stories to Give You Faith and Bring You Hope, by Ann Spangler |
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