The Boat and the Rock

I was doing some reading this morning in preparation for a prayer service we will have Sunday night. I came across an illustration Augustine used to help us understand prayer. He said, suppose there were a boat floating haplessly in the sea. Those in the boat threw a rope and lassoed a large rock. As they pulled the rope, the boat and the rock came together; from the sailors' perspective it was the rock that was moved toward them. However, we all know that it was the boat that was being pulled to the rock. That is what happens in prayer. Prayer is the rope. It may seem that God's will is being pulled to us but, in reality, that prayer pulls us closer to the Rock of Ages, not the rock closer to us. Interesting illustration, don't you think?