Being a person who likes to pretend she's in charge of her own destiny means that I sometimes suffer unexpected consequences for my pride. My tendency to want to rely on myself results in an inability to trust God.
Let's face it. Flawed and arrogant as I am, even I realize that there are certain things I have to leave up to Him. Those are the things that I pray about.
But, because I am so used to trying to do it all myself, I never manage to pray big. I ask God for minor things, for lucky breaks, for concessions, I try to bargain. Poor as I am on my own, I always have this urge to try to offer God something in return for my request being granted.
I was thinking of this when I was teaching the story of Daniel in the lions' den to my preschool kids the other day. I thought to myself, "Though it seemed impossible, Daniel prayed to God to save him. I'd be the one praying to God to make it not hurt too much when the lions crunched on my bones."
