I had a friend who liked to scoff at me whenever I used the phrase, "All I can do is pray about it."

I usually used this phrase to describe a situation that had slipped out of my personal control --- a job loss, a health issue, a friend or family member in distress. "All I can do is pray," I would say, with the implied meaning being I had already attempted more effective solutions on my own, to no avail. My friend would ridicule this sentiment, saying it was like having a power outage at home and saying, "All I have is a nuclear power plant."

The point my friend was trying make, of course, is that prayer is a far more powerful resource than anything we could achieve by our own efforts. Prayer should be where we turn first for help, not last. This is not how I operate --- I usually don't get around to asking God for input or assistance in any matter until it has spun completely out of control.

Jesus asks his followers in today's Gospel, "What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children,

how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

Even we humans, flawed and self-centered as we can be, are inclined to help those we love when asked. How much more is a God of unconditional love inclined to help those who seek it?

Yet if you are like me, you behave like someone who has lost power to his home, and refuses to accept an extension cord attached to a multi-megawatt generator that could power an entire city. Not only am I slow to turn to God to solve my personal problems, I rarely even glance outside my personal world and seek God's assistance for others.

Of course, God promises not to give us a snake when we ask for a fish, but he doesn't say what we'll receive when we ask for a snake. The fact of the matter is that we often ask for things that won't end up being very good for us, and it can take a long, long time to realize that what was received was better than what we asked for.

Jesus implores his followers, "Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives;

and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." It is as if he has to plead with us, even beg us to bring our needs and the needs of our community to God for assistance.

Nuclear power is a mighty thing. The power of God is mightier. I can't claim to be an expert at prayer --- I don't practice it enough --- but I can claim to be an expert at trying to change my life through frantic effort. It isn't very fun, and it isn't very effective. Jesus calls us to use the limitless power of God, who is standing by to help us. All we have to do is ask.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa.