God is Great. God is Good.

How many times have I said those words as part of a before meal prayer both as a child and with my own child? Hundreds, perhaps thousands, but only recently did I really stop to think about the distinction between great and good in this prayer.

I have begun working my way through The Workbook of Living Prayer by Maxie Dunnam. On the third day, Dunnam explores the meaning of God is good in terms of prayer. As a child (and I imagine that most kids go here too)I assumed God is great, God is good referred to different degrees of the same characteristic.

As I contemplated the lesson for the day, I began to see God's goodness in terms of God's love for us, God's desire for good for us, God's goodness as caring. God is good. Yet this doesn't adequately cover my understanding of God's goodness. I don't have the vocabulary to describe the mental, physical, and emotional reaction I have when I ponder God's goodness. It just is.

So the questions I came to were;
How is my prayer life changed or enhanced when I remember that the God I pray to, the God I crawl to, or cry to, or shout at, or sing with joy to is indeed God.

Does it change whether I pray in faith or in fear?

Where does this line of thinking send you? Do you pray to God who is good? How does/did/might that change your prayer life?