BE EVEN MORE CAREFUL

We've all heard the old warning about being careful about what we pray for lest that that prayer be answered. We also know the reality of that warning. We've all had prayers answered in the way and to the degree we prayed. And we were surprised because even though we believe in the efficacy of prayer, we sometimes pray hesitatingly. We pray not really believing that our what-seems-outrageous request will be granted by God simply because it seems a little outrageous in the first place.

When our prayer is granted, we are blown away and not only do not know what to say but are almost overwhelmed by the responsibilities that come with the granted prayer. That is not to say that we wish God had not answered our prayer. It is to say that sometimes, after the fact, we come to the realization that more was involved than a simple prayer request and a simple answer to that request by God. That does not mean that strings are attached to our prayer being answered. It is to say that it actually seems that way.

But that does not stop our asking. Even though we don't always, if ever, fully understand all the consequences of having a prayer answered, we will still ask because what we ask for is very, very important to us. Maybe we should be careful in what we pray for; but given the alternative, we will all take that chance.

It may be difficult enough dealing with the consequences of an answered prayer, what is even more eye-opening is the fact that sometimes the answer to our prayer is the one praying. So we are warned: be careful how you pray: you may be the answer.

The fact is, I think, we are always the answer, or at least part of the answer. God answers our prayers because we ask, even if we ask for something for someone we know nothing about except that the person needs prayers. Every Sunday we pray for a lot of people most of whom none of us know personally and know not why the persons are being prayed for in particular. Our task is simply to pray. Prayers for healing, for instance, are answered because we pray for someone's healing. We are part of the answer.

Again, sometimes we are the answer. In the incident where Philip comes up to Jesus to tell him that the people are hungry and need to be fed, he is making a request to Jesus: a prayer. What is Jesus's response? "You feed them, Philip. You answer your own prayer."

Philip did not see himself as the answer to his own prayer. He was so overwhelmed by the need -- to feed over 5000 people -- that he could not see how anything but a miracle could accomplish the deed. Jesus fed the people, of course. But Philip could have fed them in the same way Jesus did. The difference was that Jesus saw Philip as the answer to the prayer and Philip saw someone else as being that answer; so Jesus fed them.

My suspicion is that we are the answer to our own prayers more often than we suspect. Perhaps we need to be careful not only about what we pray for but even more careful how we pray.