prayer?!?!

when people call for prayer (activate the prayer chain) i wonder if the people really take time out to pray for those requests? i was just sitting thinking about all that is available to us through prayer-you now that if we ask we will receive and all the power that we have to tell mountains to move over and throw itself into the sea. yet all too often we don't really see great results or know about the great results that happen because of our prayers. i wonder why that is?

have we "shortchanged" god in what we think he is able to do in prayer. we talk like we think he is the almighty one-who has more power than anyone or anything but do we pray like we believe that? sometimes we don't even think to ask for prayer until we have exhausted every other means available to fix the problem. then we wonder why we don't get the results that we want. is it because as james points out that we son't have because we don't ask, or that we don't have because we only want to consume it for our own fat selves.

should god answer our prayers if we only look to him when we are in trouble? is it even right or fair of us to expect god to answer us when we don't normally answer him when he calls on us (not saying any of us are this way). back to the original thought now, when does god actually feel like he should help us or give us what we ask for? i think of the time abraham bargained with god about the cities of sodom and gommorrah-saying would you spare it if there were this many people who were good and god goes along with this. then he allows him to go get his cousin lot and spares his life because abraham asks.

is this the kind of interaction with god we need to have to see our prayers answered? do we have to be in constant communication with god like paul tells us to pray without ceasing? i have heard many great stories of answered prayers and been part of praying when great things have happened, and i know there is no sure fire formula to figure out god and when he does and doesn't answer prayers but i just thought i would put it out there.

if you are part of a prayer chain please pray like you believe that god is awesome and powerful enough to change the situation you are praying about.