A vending machine prayer

True Prayer

Do you pray? We all pray sometimes to ask something to God. 

We believe that the right things or favors that we think are supposed to be answered by God because God is Love.

Our prayer is like a vending machine that one puts in a right coin and presses one and a right outcome should be out. If it doesn't, we feel sad and betrayed, saying, "How does God not answer my worthy prayer?"

Maybe God is ignorant or silent because He is so busy or does not care for us which we tend to think.

The problem of God's silence or ignorance is not just an issue for some but for all human. 

There is a famous Catholic writer called Park Whan-Seo who lost her only son by a car accident not long after her husband's death because of sickness. She threw away all religious items including the Scripture for she believed God did not exist, cursing Him and accusing how the loving God allowed these things to happen.

A year later, she wrote an essay called "Please speak a word!" in which she confessed, 

"I desperately and countlessly asked God to say a word when I was in despair a year ago. But, God did not answer my prayer throughout the time. However, I thank God for He has been there when I have gone through the painful time. If He was not there to be cursed and accused, I won't be me today. When I had asked so many resentful questions in agony, He silently listened to my grudges and His silence is a kind consideration to hear more blames."

Prayer is a way to learn to see God's perspective not mine. 

We need favors and things all the time and ask God to give what we ask. But God does not allow things that harm us even though we become resentful. 

God is a loving Father who gives the best and does not give anything harmful to us. Therefore we should be persistent in our prayer, trusting in His mercy. Amen.