City of Legends

My son, Elric, who has taken a deeply philosophical turn of late, dabbling in theology and metaphysics, asked me for my perception as to what the difference is between a prayer and a spell, beyond the purely theological notion that prayers are to God and spells invoke other powers.

I fumbled a bit  for a moment, looking for the right metaphor, but then this one struck me:

It is the difference between asking someone to pass the salt and telling someone that you are entitled to the salt because you followed the niceties of the request form.

I agree with him that a lot of people treat prayer like a spell, that if they ask for something the right way God is obliged to give it to them.  That’s ridiculous, and those who tell or teach or preach a guaranteed intercessory prayer is missing the point and poisoning the spirituality of not only their own soul, but of others touched by it.