In reply to Susan

I thought Susan's blog entry was really interesting! And although I know nothing about tennis, I think that her thoughts and the way she related it to prayer is something we can all relate to. And incidentally, when Pastor George Westlake came to preach, he spoke on prayer and why we should pray at the Friday P&P meeting. So I thought I'll share what I can remember, which probably isn't much, so please add on if you have any thoughts...

George Westlake said that we should not be afraid to ask something from God, because James 4:2 says "You do not have, because you do not ask God." And when we ask something from God, we should not just ask once and think that if we ask more than once, it shows that we do not have faith. Because Matthew 7:7,8 (NLT) says "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."

He also talked about how God has given power to man, that what we bind on Earth would have been bound in Heaven, and what we loose on Earth will have been loosed in Heaven. So he talks about how God chooses to be limited by our prayers, and that God does nothing on Earth but move in action to answer prayers. I am a bit confused about this bit, but his point was about how important prayer is, not only to build ourselves up, but also to accomplish God's will. To me, I guess that we have to pray, prayer does us a whole lot of good, and God instructs us to pray. But is God's will limited by our prayers? I believe He will give us the faith and desire to pray in order to fulfil His will.

And just to add something I just read, prayer can be about asking God for something, to thank Him for what He has done, to praise Him and adore Him for who He is, to confess our sins, and to complain to God. Yes we can even complain to God.

-Sarah