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A friend came and asked me how I am praying for Taylor in light of what I've been through with Hope. I told her that I found myself praying, "God, give us your perspective on sickness, on loss, on death, on healing." I don't want to change God's mind. His thoughts are perfect; I want to think his thoughts. I don't want to change God's timing. His timing is perfect; I want the grace to accept his timing. I don't want to change God's plan. His plan is perfect; I want to embrace his plan and see him glorified through it.Hope spent 199 days with us and then God gave her Ultimate Healing. I can't say my experience with Hope has taught me everything I need to know about prayer. I still feel like a failure when it comes to prayer because I am often so prayerless. But I think I've come to a fuller understanding of what it means to pray, "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."Without even saying a word, Hope taught me to pray that way.

Nancy Guthrie works in Christian publishing and lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, David, and their son, Matthew

Christianity Today published The Myth of a Better Prayer Life in 1998.See also Philip Yancey's "Jesus' Unanswered Prayer" (Feb. 9, 1998)How Prayer Made Me a Father Again from the Christian Reader describes the surprising rewards of weekly prayer meetings.Both "Prayer Power" and "Does Prayer Heal?" by Christianity Today sister publications explore what it means to accept God's will and to experience his mercy.For a complete listing of prayer ministries in North America, visit the National Prayer Committee.Mission America's network has created a Challenge 2000 Web site to encourage prayer for every student and school within the U.S. by the end of the year.

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July 10 2000, Vol. 44, No. 8