Prayer changes things

From Philip Yancey's book on Prayer
Towards the end of Einstein's life....When a doctoral student at Princeton asked, "What is there left in the world for original dissertation research?" Albert Einstein replied, "Find out about prayer. Somebody must find out about prayer."

"I have come to see prayer as a privilege, not a duty. Like all good things, prayer requires some discipline. Yet I believe that life with God should seem more like friendship than duty. Prayer includes moments of ecstasy and also dullness, mindless distraction and acute concentration, flashes of joy and bouts of irritation. In other words, prayer has features in common with all relationships that matter. Philip Yancey, "Prayer"

I find this to be true. I enter my prayer closet with an expectation of change. Either change in a situation or change in myself or help for someone else. I know that even if the situation remains the same, prayer is the way I can ask God to help me deal with it the way He wants me to. I never quite know what to expect when I enter but I know that always, He meets me there.

I love this illustration from a man named John (also in Yancey's book) he says this: "I've been working around street people, mostly homeless, for twenty-five years now. I help run a coffeehouse where they can drop in, and then on Sunday we hold a small urban church service upstairs. We never know what will happen there. Some of the people smell bad, disturbed people pray too long, and visitors wander in and out of the service. The other week one person prayed, "Thank you, Lord, for Metamusil," and another chimed in, 'That's a 10-4, God."

Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope; enduring in troubles; continuing steadfastly in prayer;