<> Ask the Pastor by The Rev. Walter Snyder Here we are, at the Third Sunday of Easter - the season of celebration for the Resurrection is not yet half over, while our new lives in Christ are still just beginning. As we grow in Christ, our prayer lives grow as well. This week, we'll continue to look at some of the questions about prayer which have been coming in over the past few months. Q: What really happens when I pray? Do my prayers really do anything, or are they like those wasted exercises I had to do in grade school? A: I hope that not all those exercises were "wasted." Much of what we learn to do, we learn by repetition. Discipline and repetition in prayer life is conforming ourselves ever more to the divine will - surely nothing at which to scoff. Beyond that, though, I see your real question: "Would God do something if I didn't ask?" Let's start with a word of Scripture. James 5:16-18 says, "The earnest prayer of a righteous person accomplishes much. Elijah was a man just like us, and he prayed earnestly that there should be no rain, and no rain fell on the ground for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the ground produced its crops." Keep in mind here that Elijah was praying in accord with God's will. The Lord wanted to teach a lesson to his erring people, and he answered because the prayer was in line with what he was planning to do. Often, the Lord does act without our request - for instance, he saves us before we even believe in him. Yet he earnestly desires us to ask for all our blessings and all our deliverances from him, whether great or small. God's people try to know their Lord's will by staying in his Word. Then their prayers are prayed according to God's will. Believers at many times have recognized that God has answered their own prayers. English poet Lord Tennyson wrote: "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of." Perhaps our prayers (like our dreams) are often too small, too limited. Yes, Christians sometimes wonder why their prayers are seemingly not answered. Perhaps at times we are not really praying as God desires. All of us sometimes tend toward selfishness in our requests, especially in terms of earthly blessings and wealth. Yet the prayers of deep need, those which first of all as for spiritual blessings, are always heard - it's often that the hour of trial blocks out our seeing how God's helping hand is already busy answering us. It has been said that some spend so much time asking that they have no time to listen for an answer. The very fact that we are not able to perceive an answer may be God saying, "No," or, "Not yet." But in the way that is best and in the time that is best, God will and does answer. There are also those times when we expect the Lord to answer in a certain way, and fail to see that He has already given answer. A joke illuminates this failing on our part: An area near a river experienced a bad flood. Many of the residents got out only just in time. One man firmly believed that the Lord would rescue him, so he didn't try to hurry out with the others. "Lord," he prayed, "show these people that you are the true God and rescue me." A little while later, a man in a four-wheel-drive vehicle drove up and offered a ride out of the rising waters. "Sorry," responded the man, "I'm waiting on the Lord to rescue me." As the waters rose, he went up to the second floor of his house. A man in a boat came by with an offer of help. "Sorry," responded the man, "I'm waiting on the Lord to rescue me." The waters rose still higher. The man climbed on the roof of his house. Soon, only the last few rows of shingles were visible. "Lord, it's getting deep," he prayed. "You'd better start soon." A helicopter flew overhead, its loudspeaker crackling a message of rescue. Above the clatter, the man shouted back, "Sorry, I'm waiting on the Lord to rescue me!" The chopper flew off; the man soon drowned. He was taken to heaven, where he finally got to meet the Lord face to face. "Lord," he cried out, "it's so good to finally see you. But why, oh, why, didn't you answer my prayers for deliverance so you could show everyone how you take care of your people?" "Didn't answer!" exclaimed the Lord. "Who sent the four-wheeler, the boat, and the chopper?" Next Sunday, we'll look at developing a better prayer life and ways to pray. Until then, you may "Ask the Pastor" at P.O. Box 1080, Jasper, Texas; E-mail xrysostom@aol.com, or stop me on the street for a chat. Walter Snyder is the pastor of St. Paul and Faith Lutheran Churches, Jasper and Woodville, Texas, and coauthor of the book "What Do Lutherans Believe? A Study Guide in Christian Teachings for Adults." Copyright (c) 1996 by Walter P. Snyder Permission is granted by author to reproduce or retransmit this by any means, provided that its content is not altered, that this notice of copyright and permission is included, and that no financial gain is realized.