The Weirdness of Prayer

Prayer is a very weird thing. I bow my head and talk to God and I listen. I think most people don't think too much about exactly how prayer works which is probably a good thing. It is a little bit of a mind bender. The Bible is clear about God wanting us to pray and even inviting us to bring our requests to him. It seems wildly presumptuous for me to offer my suggestion to an all-knowing, all-powerful, supreme Being who spoke the world into existence.
Dear God, My head hurts. I hate headaches. I think life would be better if my head had no pain. What say ye?
I realize most of our requests are not quite like that one but they do seem to be close sometimes. As presumptuous as it seems I have to remember God asks me to talk to him and even to make requests. I count on Him to sift out the really silly ones. I spend time in prayer every day. Sometimes it seems like I am saying the same thing a lot. I spend time listening. How does God speak? I ask Him to speak to me as I read the Bible and often he does. I am a little more reticent when it comes to God speaking to me in prayer. I have seen way too much abuse of the "God told me to do this" so I am always careful when trying to discern God speaking. But if I were God I think I would want to do at least some of the talking with someone like me. And so when I pray I also try to listen...just in case. The other day I was riding my bike. I wasn't intending to pray but out of the blue I kept thinking of a friend of mine I hadn't talked to in a while. I started to get the distinct impression that it was God who was bringing this friend to my mind and that God wanted me to call him. So, when I got home I called him. As it turned out he had been going through one of the most difficult times in his life. He asked me why I had called. I told him that I thought God wanted me to. "Weird", he said. "Indeed", I said. I liked the idea that God had said something and I hadn't missed it. My friend and I had a good talk and then met and talked some more. I think it was encouraging for him not just that I called and we talked but that God cared enough about him to get a message through my thick head to call him. Prayer is still a mystery to me but I think I might be right that God may want to talk more during my prayer time. Maybe he had tried earlier that morning during my official time with Him but it was during my bike ride when He finally go through. So, keep praying, keep listening, keep bringing your requests to God. I learned a long time ago that I don't have to know how something works in order to benefit from it. If you feel like God is speaking to you I think it is healthy to always consider that your receptor could be way off and it might not be God at all but just in case give your friend a call because in the mystery of prayer God still speaks.