Does God Pick Out My Parking Place?

I've been thinking about prayer.  I had an odd conversation with someone a few weeks ago.  I still don't have a secure handle on what the parishioner was telling me, but she opened with, "I have been praying for you all week."  I immediately thanked her and then began to wonder, "Oh. Dear. Why?"

I had led a retreat on prayer the week before which she had attended.  Apparently something I said triggered something in her.  In a large group conversation someone said something about how she is so delighted when God gives her a good parking spot.  I have lost the specific context of the conversation--I think it was about when God grants the smallest of our prayers.  I know I didn't initiate the exact train of thought.  I know this because I don't have "God granted me a parking spot" prayers...or moments.  I know I said something along these lines...or rather I tried to re-frame the comment.  It was a pretty casual conversation so I know I disagreed a bit and offered my take on God as micro-manager.  They weren't buying what I was selling.

Which, I think, is what spurred my parishioner's prayer life.

Now she also could have been praying for me to have a more open mind.  Or, for me to learn to just let some comments in a conversation slide by.  Or, she could have just felt my whole retreat on prayer was lacking.

This particular person knows me pretty well and is a very vocal advocate for my ministry.  I trust she had good and well intentioned prayers.  I also believe she was, truly, praying for me.*  There was just something about it that I didn't like...

I have a few more entries lined up based on this conversation.  Tell me about your prayer life.  Do you have stories about people praying for you?  Other thoughts?


*(I should have told her that if she was offering up "God as Puppeteer" prayers...I have a house I'd like to get rid of.)