Prayer

"Why do we pray?" our professor asked us. The class is about suffering, pain and evil and how a good God fits into those horrible scenarios, like what just happened in Haiti. We are hearing stories. Head shaking stories. A church of retired pastors in Florida had just sent two of their congregation to Haiti to help with a building project. They had arrived one hour before the earthquake and were instantly killed since they were in the bottom of the ten story headquarters building getting blueprints. What was the point of that?

Or the people who used their cell phones to call for help and were rescued - why them? What about others who called and died anyways? Its that 9 11 scenario replayed. Senseless destrcution and pain. Its complicated. We discuss the topic at length. For me, it is the same question as Why did Michael die and Why do I have cancer and Why is my son bipolar and Why is my ex mentally ill? Or Why are the poor poor?

The whole class has a fascinating discussion. We look at all the different possible responses and the logical conclusions those responses lead to. I come away understanding better how I got to my own convictions and where those thoughts may need to be rethought.

I still maintain that God does not cause pain and suffering. He does not want people to suffer but works towards making their lives better. Prayer does affect situations - even in my own cancer battle I know that when people pray for me things go better. And in the end, there will be no pain and suffering in heaven.

Do I pray? Absolutely! Do I believe prayer changes things? Yes! Do I understand how it works? No. But that doesn't stop me from praying both because we are instructed to pray in the Bible, and because I have seen enough answered prayer to know that there is merit in doing so.

I invite your thoughts.