Where Our Prayers Might Go

Last January, my husband, Don,  pointed out that buying ink for my old printer (that wasn't easily hooked up to my lap top) was more expensive than just buying a new one. Tired of not having easy access to a printer, I spent time in office supply stores.

My new printer cost more than ink cartridges for the old one, but not enough to fuss about. As I set it up, I marveled at the extra $20 worth of features.

While I'm intrigued that I can print music paper, wide or college ruled notebook paper, and various stationary, I still haven't grown used to the wi-fi capabilities.

My printer sits on a desk at the top of my stairs. I write on my lap top at the kitchen table down stairs. When I need to print something, I push the printer button from my perch in the kitchen and words float through the air to the machine upstairs.

It thrills me every time. How do words transcend from machine to machine with no cord in between?

A techie genius could explain it. And since I've been texting for years perhaps I shouldn't be quite so amazed. But I like the visual. My words leave this contraption called my lap top and appear on paper, waiting fifteen feet above my head.

It makes me wonder where our prayers might go.

Some days it seems my prayers fall flat. But after purchasing my new printer, I'm all the more convinced they never do. If computer generated words can float through the air and arrive somewhere concrete, how much more so the cries of our hearts to the Almighty God of the universe.

"The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place." (2 Ch 30: 27)

Our prayers don't often generate an immediate print out response. But if man can create machines that capture invisible word particles and print them back out, how much more does God grab hold of our prayers and work on our behalf.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to  God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4: 6 - 7)

On this sunny Saturday afternoon, I'm off to UGA for another concert... confident my prayers are heard.

Check out Susan Schreer Davis on Itunes