(2) Prayer and Destiny

I've started to read the book, Eat Pray Love, for few months but unfortunately,I can't keep reading it until the end. I've got personal problem about foucusing on something long since several months ago. That was the main reason protecting me unable to finish any book. By the way,I've tried to keep reading gradually.

Now,I've reached at one important part of the book.It was about author's life in India for searching her spiritual growth.
She told about what she learned from practicing and struggling with meditation.I'd loved what she talked about the way of "Prayer" abd "Destiny" She comes up with that thinking after struggling through a hard form of meditation by herself. They were very relavant and rational, I think
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(This is what she mentioned about "Prayer")

"There's a wonderful old Italian joke about a poor man who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint,begging, Dear Saint-please,please,please ... give me the grace to win the lottery. This lament goes on for months. Finally,the exasperated statue somes to life,looks down at the begging man and says in weary disgust, "My son-please,please,please ... buy a ticket !" Prayer is a relationship,half the job is mine.If I want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what,exactly,I'm aiming for how will it ever occur? Half the benefit of prayer is in the asking itself,in the offering of a clearly posed and well-considered intention, If you don't have this,all your pleas and desires are boneless,floppy,inert;they swirl at your feet in a cold fog and never lift."

Elizabeth Gilbert- Eat,Pray,Love

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(This is what she mentioned about "Destiny")

"Destiny,I feel,is also a realtionship - a play between devine grace and willful self-effrot. Half of it you have no control over; half of it is absolutely in your hands, and your actions will show measurable consequence. Man is neither entirely a puppet of the gods, nor is he entirely the captain of his own destiny; he's a little of both. We gallop through our lives like circus perforners balancing on two speeding side-by-side horse-one foot is on the horse called "fate",the other on the horse called"free will". And the question you have to ask every day is - which horse is which? Which horse do I need to stop worrying about because it's not under my control, and which do I need to steer with concentrated effort?"

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I was happy that I've kept up reading till two passages. I personally tried to practice meditation for long time and tried harder to keep it with discipline but it's really hard to deal with the high speed train of our thought. That's the main abstacle. So I really need some guidances at this time for what should I follow and how should I deal with myself when I got stuck with unhealthy thought. I hope those good words could help someone to understand and guide the way of changing themselves much better.