As Christians we talk a lot about prayer. To begin with, let us recognize that Christians don t have a corner on prayer. In the Old Testament the pagans prayed to Baal while Elijah prayed to the only true God. In the New Testament, we find the Romans and Greeks praying to their many gods. The American Indians, the Australian Aborigines and countless tribes in Africa are known to have prayed to a power outside of and greater than themselves.
Prayer seems to be universal, regardless of religion or language or nation.
We have heard it said many times that God always answers prayer but that He sometimes says No . Thank goodness all of our prayers are not answered the way we ask them because sometimes we are like little children who seem to ask for nothing but toys and candy. It is the parents who have to be thoughtful enough to prohibit the children from getting only the things they ask for and nothing else. And, then, sometimes we think that the only thing prayer does is alter the attitude of the one who prays. Dr. Larry Dossey, who is the former chief of staff at Medical City, Dallas, indicates that in his early years of medicine he had no respect for prayer.