For me, prayer is not so much me setting out a shopping list of requests for God to consider as it is a way of keeping company with God.
Philip YanceyBy focusing too myopically on what we want God to do on our behalf, we may miss the significance of what he has already done.
Philip YanceyWhen I am tempted to complain about God's lack of presence, I remind myself that God has much more reason to complain about my lack of presence.
Philip YanceyJesus never met a disease he could not cure, a birth defect he could not reverse, a demon he could not exorcise. But he did meet skeptics he could not convince and sinners he could not convert. Forgiveness of sins requires an act of will on the receiver's part, and some who heard Jesus' strongest words about grace and forgiveness turned away unrepentant.
Philip Yancey