Two ears, one mouth. Do the math.

Ecclesiastes 5

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. For a dream comes with much business, and a fool's voice with many words." v(1-3)

God is in heaven, and you are on earth. How often do we pray as people who believe we know what God should do in our lives?

Rougly paraphrasing Tim Keller:
Prayer is not about changing God - it is about being changed by God. It is not about getting God to do what we want - it is about letting him have access to our hearts so that we do what He wants.

What if we approached our petitions and requests in that attitude. "God, you are in heaven and I am on earth. There are circumstances in life I do not understand. Please enlarge my faith so that my trust and obedience increase. You told us there would be suffering and pain in this life, and you promised us your sufficiency in them. Thank you that I am not alone. Thank you that circumstances are not outside your sovereignty - you are never surprised."

Closing story:
A journalist heard about a very old Jewish man who had been going to the Wailing Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for sixty years. The journalist went to the Wailing Wall and there observed the old Jew.
The journalist enquired, “What do you pray for?”
The man replied, “I pray for peace between the Christians, Jews and the Muslims. I pray for all the wars and hatred to stop, I pray for all our children to grow up safely as responsible adults, and to love their fellow man.”
“How do you feel after doing this for 60 years?” asked the journalist.
“Like I’m talking to a brick wall”, he replied

(closing story pulled from this timely blog entry.)