You Can't Always Get What You Want

You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want...

- Rolling Stones

I just had a very interesting discussion with a dear friend of mine that ultimately led to her asking me if I thought God answers prayers.

Now any Theology 101 student will tell you that God answers ALL prayers, it’s just that sometimes His answer is "yes", and sometimes it's "no". While that may be a sufficient answer for a class of 6th graders, it just doesn’t cut it with me. Why should it matter a whit to God if my kid scores a goal in his soccer game, or if that woman with the crying baby sits next to someone else on the plane? Why can’t God answer “yes” to all those petty prayers? Does it really make that big a difference in his plan for my life? Is God an adherent to the “Butterfly Effect” ?

For those of you not familiar with it, the “Butterfly Effect” says that the changing of even the tiniest detail (like the killing of a single butterfly) can have devastating unintended consequences on future events. But if that’s the case then the implication would be that God doesn’t answer ANY prayers EVER.

So why doesn’t God answer my fervent prayer to let my kid score a goal in his soccer game? Is it because the parent of the goalie is praying equally hard that his kid not get scored on? Well, if that’s the case then why does God answer his prayer yes, and mine no? Is it because that parent is better than me? Is it because he’s the “right” religion? Could it be that God likes his kid better than mine? What?

I was once told that all prayers can be summed up in one of two phrases: “Thank you!”, or “Please!”. Well, the “Thank you!” is easy enough to understand, and doesn’t require any answer by God, but the “Please!” is much more problematic, and (I think) more complex.

I believe that there are actually two sub-classes of “Please!” prayers. We pray for things we want, or we pray for things we need. The “want” prayers are easy enough to understand - they come from our petty desires and selfishness, and as such I do not believe that God answers them one way or another.

On the other hand, I think that God answers “yes” to ALL our prayers that come out of need. So, do I “need” my kid to score that goal? That’s a simple one, how about this – Do I “need” to have mom hang on to life long enough for my brother to get to her bedside? Or do I “need” for the killing to stop in any one of a hundred places around the globe? So what is it that we actually “need”?

If we expect an answer from God, we have to first reflect on what it is that we are asking Him for. Is it just one of our many personal desires or preferences cloaked in something else? Do I “need” my kid to score because I “want” him to feel good about himself? Do I “need” mom to hang on a while longer because I “want” my brother to have a chance to say goodbye? Do I “need” the killing to stop because I “want” to feel good about the state of the world, or because I “want” the people to feel safe?

Is there anything that we truly “need” that God hasn’t already provided? Or have we just failed to recognize that He said “yes” to our prayer long before we even thought to ask.

So I guess it's like the Rolling Stones taugh us so long ago,
"...But if you try sometimes
Well you just might find
You'll get what you need "

Peace.