PRAYER--JOURNEY OF CONFUSION

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Dr. Larry Crabb says that when he was 10 years old he heard the message of Matthew 21:22, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” He was really excited about what he would be able to do. He went outside and told God he wanted to fly like Superman and that he was going to jump and leave the rest to Him. He jumped four or five times and each time he landed a little further down the driveway. That was the beginning of a 50 year journey of confusion.

Prayer is confusing! I have been praying since I was a teenager but I still don’t have it all figured out.

Philip Yancey, one of my favorite writers, has written an excellent book, Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference? He probes the very heartbeat—the most fundamental, challenging, perplexing, and deeply rewarding aspect—of our relationship with God.

Does prayer work? More personally, does it work the way we think it should? What can we really expect from prayer? Yancy helps with these and other tough questions.