Prayer

My understanding of prayer is evolving, but it seems to make sense to be reminded that God's perception of what is important and ours is different, and therefore His longterm goals for what is best for us is different. As we pray for improvement in earthly situations and physical ailments, God is ministering to our soul in light of and through those circumstances. He realizes that the earthly and physical are fleeting, but the soul is eternal. When we open up in prayer about what we need and want, we are opening the doors to His ministering to our soul and growing our faith through those situations.

On another note, praying for others and their earthly circumstances and physical ailments may not result in those problems being solved. These prayers, however, put us in partnership with God which softens our heart toward those needs, and we can then work in partnership with God by ministering to their needs, and in turn, their souls. It is like St. Theresa of Avila's prayer that we become the hands, feet, and eyes of Jesus here on earth. Without the prayer, the heart may not have been softened or the actions in line with God's purpose. Those who are in a position (either due to proximity or ability) of not being able to do more than pray should not discount their important role in praying for those who are in a position to provide hands on help.

Sharing our desires with God, even if they seem selfish and probably not important, is extemely important. I like to think of God literally sitting in my car or my kitchen with me as I chat with Him all day about my hopes, dreams, and disappointments. As Philip Yancey states in The Jesus I Never Knew,
“Power, no matter how well intentioned, tends to cause suffering. Love, being vulnerable, absorbs it. In a point of convergence on a hill called Calvary , God renounced the one (power) for the other (love).”
God wants a relationship coming out of voluntary love rather than a forced submission. We can share anything and should. Even though he already knows, it means a lot for us to want to tell Him anyway and discuss it. This allows time for the "listening" for those ideas he needs to plant in our mind WHEN we take the time to allow that.