Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. wrote a thoughtful piece recently: “No need for condescension in matters of faith” (The Seattle Times, July 26, 2018).

He mentions a woman who escaped from a deranged gunman in a retail store. She requested prayer.

Pitts criticized another woman’s twitter feed disparaging this call for prayer. One of her tweets said, “It gives people’s egos a huge boost to believe they have the power to influence ‘Almighty god’ . . .”

In contrast, Pitts quoted a preacher: “ . . . prayer is not just a plea to get out of those trials. It’s also a way of getting through.”

Indeed, prayer is not a way of getting God to do what we want. It’s a way of grabbing God’s grace to get us through hard times and live courageously.

The question has been asked: Whose side is God on when competing groups request God’s help in overcoming the other?

The perspective of the question is in error. It’s not: Whose side is God on?

The right question is: Who’s on God’s side?

The purpose of prayer isn’t to get God to do our will. It’s to help us find our way to do his.