Something to ponder

This was included in one of those sappy emails that you are supposed to send on to 50 of your nearest and dearest friends in the next 5 minutes or something horrible will happen to you. I usually just use the delete key on those. However, this one gave me one little nugget to consider.

"Don't miss out on a blessing because it isn't packaged the way that you expect."

I wonder what blessings I will encounter today........ Will I recognize the blessings?

Why should I pray? How should I pray? Does it matter?

1 Samuel 1, especially verse 20 “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
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I was reading the story of Hannah. Her prayers were non-stop, asking the Lord to give her a son. The priest Eli thought that she was drunk because of the way she prayed. She tells the Lord that she will give the son back to His service, if only she can have a son. The Lord answers her prayer for a son, whom she names Samuel. True to her word, she gives Samuel back to the priest Eli to raise in the temple for the Lord.

Now, what does this mean for me? I'm not sure I believe that prayer works in this way, but maybe I'm missing something. It seems that Hannah asked, pleaded and bargained and finally God gave in. When explaining Samuel's name, she says that it means "Because I asked the Lord for him."

This isn't my understanding of God. Can we cajole, whine or plead favors from God to suit us? Is God unaware of our wants or needs? I don't see God hanging around saying, "Oh, I'm sure glad you reminded me that you need some food (or that Auntie Bertha is sick) because I had forgotten all about that." Somehow it seems quite a cruel way for a loving God to respond. It seems like a simplistic view of God.

Yet, repeatedly the Scriptures tell us to pray to God to make our wants and needs known. "Ask and it shall be given to you." (Matthew 7:7) "You do not have because you do not ask." (James 4:2) "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

What does it mean when you don't get what you want or think you need? When you don't get the job you want, but another person is hired? When you have a car accident, even though you prayed for God to keep you safe? When your mother dies from cancer, even though you asked that she be healed? When the Cubs aren't in the World Series for yet another year? Does that mean God wasn't listening? or that you didn't pray often enough? or loud enough? or hard enough? or say the right words in the right order?

It seems that I need to remember the words that Jesus taught us. "Your will be done, on earth and in heaven." Perhaps the reason to pray is to change my attitudes, my wants, my needs to be attuned to what God wants for me. I wonder if the reason for prayer is to build relationship with God.

Keeping confidences

Recently, I've had several folks tell me things in confidence. These were not secrets or gossip, but concerns or desires of their hearts. Sometimes they had a need to vent.

Of course, I do the same at my Monday thru Friday job. I ask very personal questions about people, their income, their schooling, their training, who they live with, why they got fired, why they quit.....and I hear lots of stories. Some laughable, some silly, others sad or just plain horrible. I've learned to listen well and reflect what the person has told me. That seems to be a rare gift.

So many people just need a safe place to tell their story and not be condemned by the listener. I am honored and humbled to be entrusted with these confidences. I wonder why they choose me. What is there about me that makes others feel safe? Hmmm...........