How God Answers Prayer; orBe Careful What You Pray For!!!

Yes, as Mom and Anon the Lesser pointed out, it rained in Georgia last night after Perdue, the Chicken-Governor of Georgia, held a prayer meeting on the capital stairs. Regardless of the fact that it could have just dewed heavily and people would have claimed an answer to prayer (for god is a god of answering only part time, and speaks nothing of quantity...), perhaps the Prayer-Chain Gang of Georgia could have been a bit more specific, as it seems god may have been distracted as to the amounts Georgia needs! Despite the fact that these people have been praying since June of 2007 for rain, when god finally did reach deep into his in-box and finally became aware in his infinite knowledge and wisdom of the drought in our dearly beloved Christian nation, he answered thus, according to this article:

---

"This is hopefully the beginning of more," Perdue said from Canada, where he is on a trade mission. "One rain won't refill the reservoirs. It is great affirmation of what we asked for."

Most of metro Atlanta got a little rain overnight ahead of a strong cold front that blew through North Georgia, and a wind advisory was in effect for gusty conditions behind the front on Thursday.

"As we do all we can from a conservation standpoint, virtually all of us know we are dependent on rain. I am just a person who believes it comes from God," Perdue said.

While almost all of metro Atlanta got rain, most rainfall totals were only around a quarter-inch or less.

Overnight rainfall totals included .14 inch at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, .21 inch at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport and .28 inch at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.

The rain was a little heavier north of town, with Cartersville reporting .82 inch and Gainesville .75 inch.

---

Aww, wasn't that sweet! Barely an inch of rain--in fact, barely a quarter inch in some areas!

Better than the fact that god couldn't even send enough rain to parch the land, let alone even effect lake levels, the same storm that brought the (tiny amount of) rain to Georgia brought destruction to Tennessee, as this article points out:

---

The rain late Wednesday and early Thursday brought some precipitation to the parched hills of northern Georgia. The showers began a day after Gov. Sonny Perdue led a prayer service on the steps of the state Capitol to beg the heavens to end the drought.

[...]

The rainfall was likely not enough the ease the drought, forecasters said.

"The ground probably sucked it all up," said Vaughn Smith, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Peachtree City. "The ground is so dry, I seriously doubt if any of the lakes rose any."

Storms hit elsewhere in the Southeast, injuring at least nine in Tennessee.

In Tennessee's Marion County, the roof of a Baptist church was heavily damaged in the storms, said Jeremy Heidt of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Three children were hurt by flying glass and were taken to hospitals, said Heidt.

City Hall across the street from the church suffered minor damage, Heidt said, and an ambulance business next to it had heavy damage. A house also collapsed, but the residents went to the hospital themselves.

"I couldn't get the door open because the outside pressure and wind was so strong," said Justin Lawhorne, manager of Wendy's restaurant in Kimball.

County schools were closed Thursday due to the storm.

More than a quarter of the Southeast is covered by an "exceptional" drought — the National Weather Service's worst drought category.

---

What have we learned?

a.) It will rain, regardless of how many people pray/don't pray.
b.) If you ask god for rain, be specific: ask for "3 inches" as opposed to just a general request.
c.) Give god parameters: instead of just asking for rain, which could come in the form of a drizzle or a category 5 hurricane, say things like "we'd prefer it in a nice, slow, steady way, with no damaging winds or flooding."
d.) Give god directions: be sure when asking for rain to also ask that god move the storm around your houses of worship and where small children may be located; after all, if we shouldn't suffer the children to come to him, they shouldn't suffer when he comes to them either.
e.) Realize that, even though you think a minuscule amount of rain falling is an answer to prayer, it was going to rain eventually, and with your "sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes maybe" reading of your scripture (which is not a biblically based teaching/worship in any way, shape or form), you will feel justified that whatever the outcome, god has somehow "answered it."

Beyond all that, though, those of you who think that the teensy-tiny amounts of rain are somehow an "answer," what say you about your god's ripping down a church roof and injuring small children in the process? (Hey! At least it rained, right?)