When We Pray
During times of tremendous tragedy, many people turn to God in prayer. We plead with him, entreating him to make things better, to heal the sick and injured, and to comfort those who have suffered great loss. I've heard it said that "there are no atheists in foxholes." This means, simply, that in the toughest times, many people turn to God for the help they need, when they know that everything is totally hopeless without him. For a short while, anyway, it seems as if everyone becomes aware that God is ultimately in control. And, he is!
It's so easy for people to be self-sufficient, turning to God only when things go wrong. God remains in charge all the time, though, even when everything seems to be going well. I am convinced that he wants each of us to have a lasting relationship with him, not just during hard times, but all the time.
God is not a heavenly good luck charm, ready to be pulled out to help us only when we think we really need him. He isn't a fairy godmother, eager to make everything perfect for us in the blink of an eye, whenever we ask for something. Neither is he like a genie in a bottle who is compelled to give us three wishes just because we follow the correct protocol.
How would it be if we treated our friends and relatives like that? What if we only talked to them when we wanted something? I'm afraid that a relationship would not last very long under those terms.
Contrary to some people's beliefs, God isn't obligated to give us whatever we ask just because we pray in Jesus' name. Sometimes, he wants to give us something different, and better, than what we desire; sometimes, his timing is much better than ours. He sees the big picture; we don't.
So often, we think that the world revolves around us, that our wants and needs are most important. Even when we come to God, our prayers often become a laundry list of complaints and pleas. Sure, he wants us to talk to him, and I suppose that any prayer is better than none, as long as we acknowledge that he is God. But God wants more.
He wants us to know him well, to submit ourselves to him, to love him and trust in him for everything we need, every day. We are privileged to be able to come to God only because of Jesus, who broke down the barrier of sin that separated us from God. He wants us to praise him fervently for who is and what he has done. A song that we sang this morning in church expresses this thought very well:
It's all about You, Jesus,
And all this is for You,
For Your glory and Your fame.
It's not about me,
As if you should do things my way.
You alone are God, and I surrender to Your ways.
(Jesus, Lover of My Soul, Paul Oakley, 1995)
It doesn't take long to surrender your life to God. If you have never taken that step, just tell him that you're ready; he'll do the rest.
Submit yourselves, then, to God...Come near to God and he will come near to you...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James 4: 7-8, 10
It's so easy for people to be self-sufficient, turning to God only when things go wrong. God remains in charge all the time, though, even when everything seems to be going well. I am convinced that he wants each of us to have a lasting relationship with him, not just during hard times, but all the time.
God is not a heavenly good luck charm, ready to be pulled out to help us only when we think we really need him. He isn't a fairy godmother, eager to make everything perfect for us in the blink of an eye, whenever we ask for something. Neither is he like a genie in a bottle who is compelled to give us three wishes just because we follow the correct protocol.
How would it be if we treated our friends and relatives like that? What if we only talked to them when we wanted something? I'm afraid that a relationship would not last very long under those terms.
Contrary to some people's beliefs, God isn't obligated to give us whatever we ask just because we pray in Jesus' name. Sometimes, he wants to give us something different, and better, than what we desire; sometimes, his timing is much better than ours. He sees the big picture; we don't.
So often, we think that the world revolves around us, that our wants and needs are most important. Even when we come to God, our prayers often become a laundry list of complaints and pleas. Sure, he wants us to talk to him, and I suppose that any prayer is better than none, as long as we acknowledge that he is God. But God wants more.
He wants us to know him well, to submit ourselves to him, to love him and trust in him for everything we need, every day. We are privileged to be able to come to God only because of Jesus, who broke down the barrier of sin that separated us from God. He wants us to praise him fervently for who is and what he has done. A song that we sang this morning in church expresses this thought very well:
It's all about You, Jesus,
And all this is for You,
For Your glory and Your fame.
It's not about me,
As if you should do things my way.
You alone are God, and I surrender to Your ways.
(Jesus, Lover of My Soul, Paul Oakley, 1995)
It doesn't take long to surrender your life to God. If you have never taken that step, just tell him that you're ready; he'll do the rest.
Submit yourselves, then, to God...Come near to God and he will come near to you...Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James 4: 7-8, 10
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