Are We Stupid?

Last night, my husband was praying before we went to bed. As he prayed, I was coughing. Not only was I coughing, but I was listening to my son cough on the baby monitor. In that moment, I felt very frustrated, annoyed, and angry. We had already gone through many nights of coughing and I had an overwhelming sense of dread as I knew it would be another long, miserable night of coughing and sleeplessness ahead. My husband prayed for both of us to have our coughing eased and for a peaceful nights sleep. As he prayed, I couldn't help but wondering, are we stupid? Are we stupid for praying about coughing? Stupid for praying in general? Are we stupid for talking out loud to the air and actually thinking that somehow that might result in less coughing and more sleep for our family? If I'm honest, it feels pretty stupid. It feels pointless. It feel futile. We're not going to miraculously stop coughing, right? I wish. And yet, even though it feels stupid, we do it anyway. Why? Are we hedging our bets? Throwing a coin in the fountain? Betting it's better to be safe than sorry? Maybe. But, ultimately I think it's because we believe. We believe God is real. We believe he is in the air and listening (Psalm 34:15). We believe he cares (Psalm 55:22). We believe that often we don't have what we really want simply because we haven't yet asked him for it (James 4:2). And we believe that whatever we ask for in prayer we will receive (Mark 11:24). That's a big one! So, we obey, and we pray. Now, is prayer meant to change our circumstances or is it meant to change our heart toward our circumstances? That is a question for another day and better answered by some amazing Bible scholars. I recommend Tim Keller's book Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God or Bill Hybels book Too Busy Not to Pray. I've read those books. I'm still not clear on the mechanics of how prayer works exactly. But, one thing I know for sure. I'd be stupid not to pray. I'd be stupid not to call out to a loving God who is listening, who cares, and who longs to be gracious to me (Isaiah 30:18). And just as a follow-up, we did cough a lot during the night. But, today, we have had wonderful, long, cough-free naps. :)