Expectations in Prayer

The story of Naaman, the Syrian's cure from leprosy in today's fist reading (2 Kgs 5:1-15ab) stirs up questions about our on attitude toward and expectations of prayer.  When he was told by a messenger (not ever the prophet Elisha face to face) to bathe seven times in the Jordan, Naaman was insulted and furious that the prophet did not speak to him in person, and secondly, gave him such a simple solution.  Naaman reacted as we do sometimes when the answer to our prayer is not what we expected, as well as being so mundane.  Like Naaman, we might be expecting something more exotic or elaborate...a splash of divine intervention.  We pray for the conversion of an atheist friend, or the healing of a relative or neighbor from cancer, or the victory in a hockey game.  When the answer is "No", or "No, not yet", we balk  and take a step backwards that what we thought we were entitled to is refused.  We miss the real answer:  what God had in mind in the BIG picture.  We miss the answer which comes not as we expected but in another form...a closer bonding with the people we are praying for, the important lesson that God's plans are not ours, nor his ways ours, or that we are to look for the greater good elsewhere.  Naaman learned humility, he learned to listen to his servants, and in the end was cured.  He believed in God and praised him.  Had he not learned humility in the process, his reaction might not have been so rich.  His experience is a lesson for us in prayer, one that we would not have, had he not been so human in resisting the simple proposal for his cure.
Bro. Rene