I saw clips from this movie a few months ago in church (yes.. in church!)
Its a modern day Noahs Ark comedy remake with a message. You can read the review for Evan Almighty here.
My favorite part of the movie is this:
There is a great scene, just past the mid-point of the movie, where Evan’s wife (Joan) who has just left Evan, speaks with God posing as a waiter in a restaurant.
Joan: What is the story about, then? The ark?
God: Well, I think it’s a love story about believing in each other. You know, the animals showed up in pairs. They stood by each other, side by side, just like Noah and his family. Everybody entered the ark side by side.
Joan: But my husband says God told him to do it. What do you do with that?
God: Sounds like an opportunity. Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If they pray for courage, does God give them courage, or does he give them opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, you think God zaps them with warm, fuzzy feelings? Or does he give them opportunities to love each other? Well, I got to run. A lot of people to serve. Enjoy.
The reason this conversation is so important is that in the beginning of the movie Joan tells Evan that the kids prayed for a dog, but she prayed that they would become closer as a family.
At this point she reverses her decision to leave him because he is so weird and come together to sort out the ARK!
Many times in life we want the answer to our prayer be very straightforward and thrust in our hands – and we miss the opportunity to really enjoy the pleasure of answered prayer!
You can see the clip of this dialogue from Evan Almighty here.