But I want it MY way....

Ever read one of those books that you just hated because you knew it was right? Yeah, me neither... until now, that is.

As I shared before, I'm making my way through Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald.

Here's today's excerpt from pp. 176-177:

"A third reason prayer comes hard to us is the fact that it seems frequently unrelated to actual results. Lest you think I am guilty of denying a substantial teaching of Scripture, hear me carefully. I do in fact believe that God answers prayer. But most of us have had enough experience to realize that His answers do not always come in forms or on schedules that we would have designed....

"Like others, I have prayed for healings, for miracles, for guidance, and for assistance. Frankly, there were times I was sure God would answer me because I had mustered strong feelings of faith. But many of those times nothing happened -- or if it did, it was entirely unlike what I had anticipated.

"We live in a society that is reasonably organized. Put a letter in the box, and it usually ends up where you want it to go. Order an item on the internet, and it usually comes to you in the right size, color, and model. Ask someone to provide you a service, and it is reasonable to expect that it will work out that way. In other words, we are used to results in response to our arrangements. That is why prayer can by discouraging for some of us. How can we predict the result? We are tempted to abandon prayer as a viable exercise and to try getting the results ourselves.

"But the fact is that my prayer life cannot be directly tied to the results I expect or demand. I have had many opportunities by now to see that the things I want God to do in response to my prayers can be unhealthy for me. I have begun to see that worship and intercession are far more the business of aligning myself with God's purposes that asking Him to align with mine."

Well, sure. I needed a kick in the bee-hind today. Thankyouverymuch.