prayers that work

Today in the One Year Bible, we read from James 4:1-17. And there are many great verses in this selection. "Submit yourself to God: resist the devil and he must flee" is worth several blogs all by itself.

But the verse that I want to focus on tonight is when he says that "you don't get what you want because you don't ask for it... and when you DO ask, you only ask for things to bring you pleasure."

A friend and I were recently discussing praying. That there are times when you can "sense" that your prayer is being answered, and times when your prayers seem to "hit the ceiling." One of the things that helps us pray effectively is learning what the Bible says about prayer. "If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask", the Bible says. So we know He will say yes when we ask for wisdom. If you ask for a million dollars or a BMW, you might not get a yes. Those prayers are just to "spend on your passions", as James puts it.

So learning what to ask for teaches us how to pray. And once we're "in synch" with God, we learn to pray for things that get "yes" answers. And our spirits learn what that "feels like", when we pray a prayer that gets a yes answer. So then when we pray for other things, like healing or for someone to come to know Him, we can sense when those prayers will get yes answers, and when our prayer isn't quite in tune with His will.

God, teach us to pray.