Changing Us

I had this thought the other day while finishing my run... Praying is like running! The more and more you do it, the better it gets- but, the thing you are doing- the situation you are in- really often doesn't change at all! What does happen is a change in us! I think prayer is one of the mightiest tools we have been given to change ourselves! Christ is the refiner, and the Spirit of God is the fire. What better way to submit ourselves to the refining power of Christ and the Spirit than by kneeling and pouring out our hearts to our Father in prayer. Sometimes the best way for our prayers to be answered isn't for our situation to be changed, but for our hearts to be changed.