The Incarnation and Prayer

I'm still stuck on this idea of the incarnation and what it's doing to how I pray. The first idea I learned was the difference between a theist and a Christian.

A theist believes in a God in heaven whereas a Christian believes in a God in heaven who is also physically present on this earth inside of human beings. The theistic God is transcendent and, if not wholly so, present in matter only as some vague ground of being. The Christian God is also transcendent, is also the ground of being, but has a physical body on earth. The Christian God can bee seen, heard, felt, tasted and smelled through the senses. The Christian God has some skin.

So why is this impacting how I pray? Let me start by quoting this part of The Holy Longing:

As Christians, we pray to God "through Christ" and in trying to answer that prayer, God respects the incarnation, namely, that God's power is now partially dependent upon human action (on us). In prayer when we pray "In Jesus's name", not only are we petitioning God to act, but we are charging ourselves, as part of the Body of Christ, with some responsibility for answering the prayer. To pray as a Christian demands concrete involvement in trying to bring about what is pleaded for in the prayer.

Again, I'm probably the only one who didn't get the significance of this and this will probably sound obvious to everyone but me. When I pray, it's so easy for me to ask God to do things - to change people, to change circumstances, to comfort people, etc. God answers prayers, and I've always gotten that piece - sometimes too much. My propensity has been to ask for things as opposed to having the balance of asking for the previously mentioned things AND understanding how I can be used in the situation.

For example - for me to sit and pray for a friend to get better, but do not drive them to the doctor when they need it, I pray as a theist, not as a Christian. If I have a friend who is having a crappy day and pray for her, but don't speak to them, then I am praying like a theist, not a Christian. How is God supposed to console them? It is my voice and my compassion that is called for since I part of the Body of Christ.

I'm still trying to figure out the balance here in terms of not thinking that I'm the only way God can work in this world, but on the flip side I need to understand that my role as part of the incarnation is not just to sit on my butt and wait for God to change things. I realize that God can work without me and that I can't save the world on my own. In all of my prayers, I'm asking myself if I'm praying as a theist or a Christian.