Prayer...It's Complicated

Sometimes prayer is more multi-layered than I think.

For example, I pray regularly for the victims of the genocide that is going on in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Over 200,000 people have died in ethnic violence there, and 2.5 million people are displaced. What exactly am I asking of God when I pray for that area? Am I saying, "God, you just step in and find a way to make it stop." Or am I saying, "God, change the minds and hearts of people who have power over the outcome of this horror." Is my prayer just me trying to force God's hand? Am I doing the same as many people of governmental or celebrity status, who are trying to force the Sudanese government to stop the killing, or to force the United Nations Security Council, and/or the government of China to pressure the government in Sudan to step in and stop it.

Regarding the latter country, I've had mixed feelings about the Olympics being held in China. Basically, I think international politics and the games should be kept at arms length. However, China is the biggest global buyer of Sudanese petroleum. They don't want to risk a slow-down in supply. That angers me, as consumer convenience seems to outweigh human mercy and justice once again. Yet even as I pray for God to make justice happen, I have to face the number of times my own country has let economics override human beings in need. And I'm a part of that. I accept the international economic and political complexities that keep my lifestyle opulent, while the vast majority of humanity does without. So my prayer, expecting God to do something about some situation, seems to come back around to God saying, "I'm doing my part; what are you doing to join in with me?"

Prayer is not always about me being in some warm, fuzzy, spiritually comfortable place with God. Prayer is not just wishing God would do something while I lay inert. Sometimes it's discomforting. Sometimes a God who loves me deeply takes my finger-pointing and gently but resolutely aims the finger back at me.

Prayer...it can be complicated. What do you think? I'll see you around the next bend.