Some thoughts on prayer

I am a praying person. Sometimes people question why we need to pray to God if He is going to do whatever He wants anyway. 

I was listening to a sermon by Adrian Rogers and he told a story that really touched me. He said that a college invited him to speak and sent a private airplane to pick him up. He said the pilot asked him if he'd like to try flying the plane for a little bit. Of course Adrian wanted to give it a try!  He said it was exhilarating knowing he was flying the plane. He said that pilot didn't need him to fly the airplane, but Adrian definitely needed the pilot!  He said they made a connection and enjoyed the experience together.   And he said that's what God does with us. Even though God doesn't need our participation, He invites us to partner with Him in what He is doing. It will allow us to fellowship with Him and learn to depend on Him. 

Another thing I've been learning is this:  as someone who prays, I spend a lot of time praying for temporary needs. There is nothing wrong with this--in fact the bible tells us to be persistent in our prayers. Jesus even tells us to ask for "our daily bread" in the example he gave his disciples  of how to pray. 

But I recently started thinking about prayers that pertain to eternal things. Maybe it is more important to pray that a person's faith grows than their comfort. Sometimes God takes us out of our comfort zone because he wants us to depend on him. Maybe then we will really experience the exhilaration of flying with Him.