It's prayer, not a potion.

First off, sorry for the hiatus. My baby sister got married last weekend and preparation for the big event pretty much took up all of my free time. The event also brings me to the point of this post.

As you all know, I am SEVERELY pregnant. On the day of my sister's wedding I was due in 12 days. For anyone who knows my sister, having that kind of wild card hanging over your wedding plans is pretty much your worst nightmare.

So she started praying. And then she asked my grandma to pray, and my aunt, and her bridesmaids, and then everyone on the planet who even slightly believed in prayer to pray that I wouldn't have the baby right before or during her wedding ceremony.

Of course, once her big day came and went, everyone started praying the opposite direction! When I woke up this morning, still pregnant, still going through false contractions and cramping and just regular miserable-ness, my aunt said to me on facebook, "I think we all prayed too hard for you to not go into labor!"

My response: "Geez Sue, it's a prayer, not a potion." As if God were storing up all of those prayers in some cauldron in heaven and said, "Nope, she can't have that baby yet. I still have 18 'No labor' prayers to get through before we can start on the 'Yes labor' prayers."

Don't get me wrong, I don't think my aunt thinks of prayer in this way at all. I think she was just being cute. But so many people, church people included, do see prayer this way.

Why? Why do we constantly treat God this way? I'm guilty of it just as much as the next person. I know there have been times in my life when I have prayed so hard for something to turn out one way and it turns out another way. And all faithless little me can say is, "Why are you being so mean, God?"

I have to be reminded that it's not a magical incantation. Saying a prayer doesn't mean I have the power to turn God into my personal genie. Saying a prayer is talking to God. It's about spending time with the creator of the universe. It's about laying my burdens and worries on his shoulders rather than holding onto them all myself. It's about working on a personal relationship.

Sometimes that's hard to remember. I think the next time I sit down to pray, I'll tell him that I need help remembering the true purpose of prayer. I bet it will be on of those things that make my life better.