MAX ON LIFE

61. Why should we pray for help when God already has a plan? He's going to do his will anyway, so what difference does it make when we ask for healing for a friend, family member, or pet? Does prayer really change anything, or was the outcome already in God's plan?

I have a story that helps answer this question.

When my daughter Sara was in the second grade, we took her desk hunting at a store that specializes in unpainted furniture. She was excited about owning her own desk. When she learned we weren't taking the desk home that day, she was upset. "But, Daddy, I wanted to take it home today."

Much to her credit, she didn't stomp her feet and demand her way. She did, however, set out on an urgent course to change her father's mind. Every time I turned a corner, she was waiting for me.

"Daddy, don't you think we could paint it ourselves?"

"Daddy, I just want to draw some pictures on my new desk."

"Daddy, please let's take it home today."

After a bit she disappeared, only to return, arms open wide, bubbling with a discovery. "Guess what, Daddy. It'll fit in the back of the car!"

You and I know that a seven-year-old has no clue what will or won't fit in a vehicle, but the fact that she had measured the trunk with her arms softened my heart. The clincher, though, was the name she called me: Daddy.

The Lucado family took a desk home that day.

She changed my mind. She altered my schedule. She influenced the details of my actions.

Prayer does the same.

Remember the prayer of Moses on Mount Sinai? He begged God not to destroy the people, and "the Lord changed his mind and did not destroy the people as he had said he might" (Ex 32:14).

The prayer of Moses affected the plans of God.

Prayer does not change everything. We cannot convince God to stop loving people, preparing heaven, or saving souls. We cannot change God's character or his eternal plans.

But we can influence the details. "When a believing person prays, great things happen" (James 5:16). Prayer is not overcoming a reluctant God. Prayer is urging God to do what he wants to do (heal, help, give his daughter a desk) but to do it sooner, stronger, or more clearly.

By the way, I ordered a desk for my office that day too. When Sara learned that it would take six weeks to be delivered, she told me, "I guess you didn't beg, did you, Daddy?"

By: Max Lucado