S U N D A Y   S N I P P E T S (tm) # 1 1 4               30 Nov '97

                        What is the purpose of Prayer?
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Can we believe that God ever really modifies His action in response to the
suggestions of men?  For infinite wisdom does not need telling what is
best, and infinite goodness needs no urging to do it.  But neither does
God need any of those things that are done by finite agents, whether
living or inanimate.  He could, if He chose, repair our bodies
miraculously without food; or give us food without the aid of farmers,
bakers, and butchers, or knowledge without the aid of learned men; or
convert the heathen without missionaries.  Instead, He allows soils and
weather and animals and the muscles, minds, and wills of men to cooperate
in the execution of His will...  It is not really stranger, nor less
strange, that my prayers should affect the course of events than that my
other actions should do so.  They have not advised or changed God' s mind
-- that is, His overall purpose.  But that purpose will be realized in
different ways according to the actions, including the prayers, of His
creatures. 
                      from "The Efficacy of Prayer", by C. S. Lewis 

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  Remember to nourish your soul: Read a portion of the Bible every day,
  and seek the company of fellow believers to build each other up
  in the faith.





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