What should I pray for?
Last time I talked about how God answers prayer; so now what should I pray for? Should I only pray for "unselfish" things? Should I pray for whatever is on my heart? Should I pray for whatever prayer request someone approaches me with, or should I be a filter and impose my own viewpoints on the request and rethink their request?

If I make every request on my heart known to God, how does He decide which to grant and which to deny?

There are no easy answers; but here are my thoughts and experiences.

Thirty-five years ago, we loaded all of our belonging in a moving van, and ourselves (Karen, Bobby - age 3, and Prince - a German shepherd aged 6 months) into our Mercury Cougar - an impractically small sports coupe - and proceeded to move from California to Virginia. Prince was moderately well house broken, just finished teething on shoes, purses, toys and other non- consummables, but was used to doing his "duty" on the grass in our urban California back yard. There is no grass across southern California, Arizona or New Mexico in September; so the dog would not go at rest stops (even those had no grass in those days), and we had "accidents" in the car and Motel rooms as we crossed the country. The poor dog was constipated from California to the middle of Oklahoma, where there finally was grass available; but nothing seemed to move him. I sat exhausted for an interminable time waiting for relief to no avail. I did not want to "bother God" with such a mundane request; but I finally did that in desperation. As I raised my head from prayer; the first thing I saw was the dog relieving himself; and for the remainder of the trip there were no more untoward incidents.

On the other hand, I have a large list of times that God has said "no" to what seemed to me to be far more important requests. Karen and I spent many hours on our knees praying that the curse of Huntington's Disease would not haunt our family - but God said "no, but I will be with you through this trial." I prayed for God to open the door for the Navy to provide my college training through three separate programs; but God said "No, wait. I have something much better in mind for you"; and he provided me training in a field where my work could be for the relief of suffering in virtually every nation; and I could be with my family instead of separated from them.

So ultimately, I believe that we should pray as we are guided in the scripture - as a child would ask of his parents. If we pray believing, then God will instruct us as to the propriety of our prayers, and we will learn to maturely communicate with our Father. "Ask what you will, your prayer shall be granted. The Father loves me; so I have loved you." As we mature, our requests will become more mature; and we will pray for what lays up treasure in heaven instead of here on earth.

Some believe that God, if He is there and cares, is capricious - sometimes helping, sometimes ignoring. Others, having received a "no" have decided that He is either not there or that He does not care.

I believe that his answer is always one that CAN lead to the greatest growth for us and the greated Glory for goodness IF we choose to let it.

It grieved me greatly that a young lady I dated before Karen "dumped" me because it would take me too long to become the millionaire that she wanted to marry. I was grieved at her judgment - for her spiritual life as well as for our relationship; and prayed that she would see the error of her choice for her own sake. In retrospect, it was obvious that this was not a spiritural partner that would have been a companion for a life of service to God; and God's "no" related to: 1) each person must choose Him on his or her own account - God will not cause anyone whose heart does not choose godliness to accept His ways. That is a choice each of us has to make on our own. 2) God had a very Godly, spiritual mate in mind for me where each of us could serve alongside the other, grow the other, challenge the other, support the other and be His.

I could have chosen to be angry with God over the intrusion that HD made in our lives. I did not plan to be spiritually single for 10 years prior to losing the wife I wanted to grow old with - to visit our grandchildren with, to travel with - and on and on and on. But time after time, God always ultimately provided a way that in retrospect was "very good."

No, I am not a "Pollyanna". HD is not "very good." Paranoid delusions are not "very good." Years alone are not "very good." Crucifixion is not "very good." A crown of thorns is not "very good." However, just as the results of Christ's suffering brought about the salvation of mankind; and there was no other way that this could be accomplished, in spite of Christ's prayer that there might be just that, there must have been no other way for me to be broken and molded into some tool for God to use as He sees fit than for my family to have to suffer through this trial.

I do not know just what He intends to make of all of this - I just know that I want to be ready whenever He calls. Was it just to let my brothers and sisters in Christ support me through this and to learn that the unbearable is bearable even if uncomprehensible? Was it just to hold my pride in check? Am I really responding in the way He wants in this? I can only continue to pray that He will send the wisdom He promises in response to prayer, and that in His own time He will reveal His plans in an obvious way that glorifies Him, and not me, because I believe that His answer to prayer is always one that can lead to His glory if we submit our lives to His will.