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Prayer Life


This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him. (I John 5:14-15)
          I like to go places I can take pictures. One of my favorites is a state park on the other side of town. One reason I like it is because there are quite a few places where I can see the sorts of things I want to photograph (animals, mostly) without losing sight of my vehicle. There are even more places I could go there if I had more time, but it’s not a waste to go there and stay close. 
         You can imagine, then, my response when my father says, “Let’s go for a drive.” I get to do something for him, I get to do something I like to do, and I get to do both without stressing either of us about leaving him in the car or the house for a long time alone. Granted, his suggestions sometimes come when I have other plans, but more often than not, those plans are flexible.
         So, why is it that I assume that any time I ask God for anything, I’m asking Him to do something that He doesn’t want to do? I know there are times when I ask for things that are outside of His will, but I tend to assume that if I want it, it’s outside of His will. Sometimes, I’ve even tempted to assume that if I want it, my wanting it is why it’s outside of God’s will. Somehow, I ruin everything. It’s my superpower. It’s a logical deduction. If it’s not my fault, it must be God’s. God is perfect, therefore the failing must be mine. 
         I don’t need Job’s friends, I do it all by myself. That’s another reason for my wisdom, direction, attitude prayer. I think, however, I need to talk to God more about my prayer life.

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