Yes...If...
Basketball coach/manager, the great Red Auerbach died the other day at age 89. He helped build one of the great sports dynasties of all time- the Boston Celtics. He was a man of great insight, ability, and wit. His job was to win games- and that he did with incredible regularity. In doing so he also broke through all the integration rules of his day.

Anyway, one of the interesting things in the report I heard on his life had to do with one time when he was talking to the famous Boston clergy, Cardinal Spellman. He asked the Cardinal:

I see all these guys standing at the foul line before shooting and they cross themselves. Does it work?

The Cardinal was a man of deep faith and trust in God. He also appears to have been a wise man as well. He answered:

Yes.

If they can shoot.

Hence the true secret of prayer. It boils down to the simple direction in the eleventh step of the AA/12-Step fellowships.

Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out.
-Emphasis added.

That pretty much sums it up, doesn't it. Yet it is a way of praying that we just don't seem to grasp. Only. Repeat ONLY for two things-

• knowledge of God's will
• power to do it.

And I know that for me at most times my understanding of God's will is probably light years (maybe even an infinity) away from my will.

So the next time you want to go out in a rainstorm and don't want to get wet, just pray for God to keep you dry.

And don't forget your umbrella.