Prayer-1

I have been struggling lately with prayer. It started one night when Cliodhna was sick and I had Kai pray for her at bedtime. He prayed "Dear God, Please make my baby sister all better, Amen." He then opened his eyes and asked me if she was better. I found myself stumbling over the words to explain that just because you pray it won't always happen right then, or ever sometimes.Ouch! If you could have seen his disappointed little face your heart would have been as heavy as mine was going to bed that night. I wondered, should I as a parent be teaching him to pray such specific prayers? Or should we change our prayers to " Comfort us when we go through this storm, Help us accept Your will.."I realised I was not sure how much God intervenes in our messes. I know that He has carried me through many a heartache and has made good things come out of those times by building character in me- that I know. But can it be, I have been praying wrong? Can it be that I'm 32 and need to rewire my whole prayer life? I knew I better come to a conclusion so I could teach Kai the right way to pray.I love that Kai has such faith, I remember being like that when I was young but then... well, then life happened and the times I prayed only to open my eyes and still be in the rain calloused my heart a bit. I rationalized it away by saying basically that in this life shit happens and God helps us through it. I struggle with my health because shit happens, Nortel is going Bankrupt because shit happens, people die because shit happens! Will God strengthen us in those times- absolutely! But He allows it to happen for our good. So, after talking with my friends and family and thinking it through I decided I was going to start praying more generally. This way is safer, smarter, sensible. So I tried it for a week...and I came to some amazing conclusions that I don't want to forget.
To be continued.