Wish Lists

Mr F has been looking for a new job. His current job is 80 miles away from where we live. A couple of job interviews ago, a Christian friend announced she would ‘be praying extra hard’ that he would get the job. He didn’t, as it happens, but I was bemused by the idea of praying extra hard. Does that mean you focus better when praying? Or that you stay on your knees longer? Or that you keep repeating your request? And that made me wonder if God would consider that to be nagging? After all, surely he would understand the request the first time. And what do we mean when we ask God for things? Don’t we really mean that we’ve decided already what would be a good outcome for us and we’re lodging that thought with God in case he hasn’t already thought of it? And what does it do to these people’s faith when their request hasn’t been granted? I’ve noticed a double-headed penny system working here. If God doesn’t deliver their shopping list, some people conclude it wasn’t ‘God’s will’. Fair enough, but why not just pray for God’s will anyway then? Or to be aligned to it. It seems to me that Jesus taught a prayer to that effect which contains the phrase ‘thy will be done’ and that’s good enough for me. Did Mr F get a new job? Stayed tuned!