Recently I dropped by one of my favorite restaurants for breakfast. I noticed that my customary waitress was not her usual bubbly self. I asked if everything was okay. She said, "No," and then proceeded to tell me about her family and financial problems. I asked if it would be okay to offer a prayer. She agreed, so I did as she stood there beside me holding a coffee pot.

About a month later I was back in the restaurant. She looked absolutely overjoyed. Before I could ask why, she said to me, "Hey, your prayer worked. I won $1600 at the casino."

What could I say? While I concede that God works in mysterious ways, I don't believe the casino is one of his agencies. Prayer is misunderstood by many who consider it to be just baptized magic. Some of us assume that when Jesus said, "Ask and you…