We learn early how to get what we want. The first words toddlers learn are "please" and "thank you," the 'magic words' to get what they are asking for. As we grow we learn how to behave with others so that we'll be accepted by the 'in crowd.' We learn how to do a job to earn a paycheck so that we can buy what we want. And in a world of one-click buying on Amazon and more than 1,200 petabytes of data available on the Internet, why shouldn't we have everything we want and have it right now?
It's no wonder then, that when life is not going well and we pray to God to fix, provide, or change things, we're disappointed when things don't immediately improve. After all, isn't that what prayer is all about - doing it right so that God will give me what I want? Jesus prayed often and had a lot to say about prayer. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus gave both instruction about prayer and an actual prayer for his followers to use. It's neither complicated nor difficult, but it has little to do wit
