Continuing my open letter to my son
A second gift that we need as we think about life and fairness is the gift of prayer (2 Cor. 1:11). Prayer is a gift first because we don’t deserve to have access to God. Prayer, however, gives us that access. He promises to hear us.
Prayer is also a gift because we have access to a God who answers us. He hears our requests (Ps. 65:2). There is no other God who does this. He is also in control and can answer us. He can defend us and He can deliver us (Ps. 116:1-2). He does not always do this the way we think He will because He knows best (Job 40-42) but He always will deliver (Ps. 118:1-6).
How does this help with our sense of fairness? We can trust that anything we bring to Him He will look after with faithfulness and love. We can trust that what He gives us is for our best.
It also helps because we can pray for other people asking God to do what is best for them. It transforms our perspective from one of comparison (I don’t have what they have/I’ve got better) to one of grace. God gives us good gifts and we pray that others might receive good gifts as well. We become more concerned that others receive good things than that we are equal to or better than them. And so we are free.