On Prayer

I've been thinking quite a bit a prayer lately. I've been discussing it with my friends and family, and I've been reading about it. Before I even start down the path, I want to make sure I'm very clear about one thing - I recognize prayer as a very real way to connect with God. I'm not questioning its role in our lives. I am questioning how we pray, and the efficacy of the prayers that are prayed.

My family suffered a great loss recently (see my post dated September 13, 2009), and I've been sorting through how to honestly deal with it. Questions keep arising on for me on faith and prayer. As I said, I've been fortunate to be able to discuss these questions with friends and family, but I want to explore a bit deeper, and of course, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

So here are my questions:

1. If we believe that God is omniscient, has a master plan, and acts in our best interests, what is the point of praying for things like health, safety, deliverance, good fortune, etc.? If it is a part of the "master plan", are all occurrences in our lives pre-determined? Is prayer in this case - in the case of requesting a change in circumstance or protection from a perceived undesirable situation - actually an act of anti-faith?
2. What sort of prayers are acts of faith?

OK, so I know that I asked three questions in my first question, but whatever. Anyway, in terms of question 1, I've really been struggling with this one. Without fail, during hard times or during times of loss I hear "God doesn't give us more than we can bear" and "We don't understand why this happened, but we have to accept God's will." These to me seem to be two very difficult statements with regard to faith. They seem to indicate that God knows, understands, and is merciful when it comes to our personal limits, and that His will isn't immediately (or possibly ever) understood by those touched by it. However, if I am to accept these statements, regardless of the difficulty and the powerlessness that comes with doing so, what then, is the purpose of prayer? And what role does my freewill play?

I've never been big on praying for the accumulation of material things (aside from winning the lottery), but I do pray for things like the health and safety of myself and my loved ones, that a particular project or task will go well, that I'm not late, etc. I pray prayers of thanks and gratitude when good things happen (and sometimes bad), and I also pray for things like peace of mind, compassion, mercy. But I can't reconcile believing that these prayers will be heard and considered with believing that the plan for our lives has already been written and that God really does know what's best.

Assuming that acceptance of God's will is not an issue, and my only prayer is for one requesting betterment, peace of mind, and understanding, I struggle to see how this does not fall into similar categories of health, safety and the lottery. If I'm not meant to understand at this time, or to be a better person or to have peace of mind, just as it is not my time to have the winning ticket, what purpose does prayer serve? I also hear "God answers prayers" quite a bit. But I question whether or not that's true - not because I doubt his ability or desire to, but because that seems counter to having a master plan. Maybe it is more of a master outline than a detailed master plan, but either way, if the end is written, what power does my prayer have to change the situation? (And I mean this for good situations as well as bad. I thinking the bad things have already been written just as the goods ones have. Neither is reward nor a slight to us - they are simply prescribed occurrences that God mapped out for us to experience on our journey. A silly example is a lost key. "Lord, please help me find this key." The key is found - is it because it was always meant to be found or because you asked for help in finding it?)

In my search for answers to these questions, I've found a bit of illumination through my reading. In Illuminata: A Return to Prayer, Marianne Williamson writes, "Prayer enables us to transform the world, because it transforms us." She also writes, "Prayer is something we do. To say a prayer is more than just to think about God. A prayerful attitude is powerful, but the actual utterance of a prayer, silently or aloud, increases the subconscious power of communion with God."

Perhaps prayer is a conversation we allow ourselves to have with God, and though the conversation is built around requests or expressions of gratitude, the true purpose is simply to have the conversation. To seek the communion and the expansion of our minds and spirits to have the ability to accept (and possible harness?) the power that God has in our lives.

In the end, I really don't know. And that's why I'm continuing to search. In the meantime, I pray daily, multiple times a day. I'm not abandoning my requests for the health, safety, and happiness of my loved ones (and a lottery win), just yet. But I'm also considering what it means to be faithful and what it means to accept God's will, and how the the amazing gift that God gave us - free will, fits in to all of this.

Let me know your thoughts.