Learning The Lessons...

I had a conversation with a friend of mine recently about praying for things like patience, strength, etc. Throughout the course of this conversation a song by Collin Raye, titled "What I Need" kept coming to my mind. It was a song I was first introduced to in college. It was never on the radio and I wasn't able to find it on youtube, but I did find the lyrics.

I knew all the answers
The way my life should go
And when I used to say my prayers
I would tell God so
It seemed He wasn't listening
I thought He didn't care
But lookin' back
It's plain to see
He was always there

'Cause I prayed for strength
And I got pain that made me strong
I prayed for courage
And got fear to overcome
When I prayed for faith
My empty heart brought me to my knees
I don't always get what I want
I get what I need

I'm not sayin' that it's easy
Or that it doesn't hurt
When nothing seems to go my way
Nothing seems to work
These days I'm getting better
At goin' with the flow
Accepting that sometimes the answer
To a prayer is no

'Cause I prayed for strength
And I got pain that made me strong
I prayed for courage
And got fear to overcome
When I prayed for faith
My empty heart brought me to my knees
I don't always get what I want
I get what I need

Every time I've had a door slammed in my face
In time a better one was opened in its place

I prayed for strength
And I got pain that made me strong
I prayed for courage
And got fear to overcome
When I prayed for faith
My empty heart brought me to my knees
I don't always get what I want
I get what I need

Oh I don't always get what I want
I get what I need

I sometimes joke about the fact that I don't pray for patience because that only means Heavenly Father is going to give me some kind of trial where I will have to be patient. But isn't that how it works? When we feel like we need more patience, more strength, or more faith, is it enough to just ask Heavenly Father for it and then expect we'll get it? Probably not. He will most likely give us certain experiences that will help us learn patience, gain strength and exercise our faith. I believe there is a lesson to be learned in any experience or trial we face in life. That is how we grow. It's just up to us to figure out what those lessons are.