Thoughts on Prayer
Several one-liner reflections on "my" prayers and God's answers. First, there seems to be no such things as a "professional" at prayer. There are only beginners who pray by beginning again and again and again. A second reflection: Maybe the most important thing about prayer is simply to show up. Third, prayer is more about the development of a relationship than about "my" answers. It will be that unique, sacred relationship which will calm my storms and lead me to the light, more than my receiving a quick prescription. A fourth reflection: Prayer, the kind that shows up again and again, the kind that prays through the foul weather and not just in fair weather, that prayer leads the one who prays to new awareness, new horizons, new visions of justice and peace. The great saints of yesterday and today seem to be those whose prayer life leads them to God, rather than to a response, which meets their needs. Are not our deepest needs the needs of the soul? Enter, sole God.

--from the question "What if God Doesn't Answer My Prayers?"
by The Rev. Dr. Douglass M. Bailey

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