Seek help through patience and prayers.
God helps those who endure in hard times.
—The Qur’an - 2:153
I hate waiting in lines. (I say this merely to distinguish myself from those who love waiting in lines.) However, they do give you time to think.
I was thinking about how last night as I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m. to catch an early flight, I was putting positive thoughts out to the universe for a smooth journey. However, upon my arrival at the airport, I discovered that my flight had been canceled while I was stumbling out the door like a zombie…
So, in line for flight reassignment, I was wondering why people pray for outcomes that are ultimately out of their control. Is it to make ourselves feel some semblance of control over our lives? To reach for optimism in the face of pessimism? To hope for order in a world full of chaos? If there is a God, do we think one of a billion prayers coming in daily will influence His grand plan?
As hard as we pray for smooth travels, prosperity, or good health, can you really pray your way out of canceled flights, financial woes, or even cancer if they’re in the cards? Is this behavior just reinforcing a desire for control over things that are out of our control when we could, instead, adopt the more practical approach of some of the Eastern religions in letting go of attachment to outcomes?
Is there a purpose in praying for things at all, or should we focus on being grateful for whatever comes our way while walking the path before us with grace? If there is an omniscient God, doesn’t He already knows what we want? So do we really need to beg for it? Or does articulating our desires in the form of prayer fall under the “ask and you shall receive” umbrella? Does God want us to voice the desires He already knows we have as a form of humbling action? But then again, He doesn’t always deliver on what we want, now does He?
I’m afraid I have more questions than answers for you today, but sometimes that’s just how it goes.