I heard part of an interview of former Senator Allen Simpson the other day. He said that the reason he retired from government service was that everyone “came to me with their hand out.” He said that people from every group came to him wanting the government to give something, cut taxes grant money, add to this or that budget, add a service or pay for a service... He said that there was no segment of the population that he represented that hadn’t approached him looking for something more from the government.
I have some very clear thoughts about the role of government but this makes me think of something much more significant. Do I approach God this same way in my prayers? When I look to him I too often have my hand out asking for something. Health, safety, money, direction, relief in relational strife… my lists can go on forever. Too often, my prayers say “please, thank you and I’m sorry” they are all about me. When I see God as only the big “vending machine” in the sky," I dishonor his love, authority and wisdom, among other things.
He does tell us to bring our burdens to him, and when teaching us to pray Jesus did include a point where we should ask God to provide our needs and forgive our sins. However, my needs – daily sustenance, shelter and clothing – are all provided so easily in our culture that I don’t wonder for them. My prayer life needs to change from all about me to all about him. He didn’t desire relationship with me so I could get stuff, for me or for others.
Neal & Judy Brower have written a short book called Discover the Life. They suggest praying in 4 categories or with 4 awareness’s. The first is to give God glory – that is to admire and adore him. We just need to recognize who he is. It’s too easy to think of God in the same way we think of ourselves and of others. I put him in a human shaped box with Super Powers. But his is so much more, and I need to be reminded of that more often than I like to admit.
The second thing is to give God honor, that is to recognize his absolute authority and put him above all things with my words and thoughts. So many times my prayers suggest that God is subject to the same things that I am subject to. He does as he pleases without consulting me, the laws of physics or even relational barriers that I can’t or won’t get around. It is about trusting God in all things not just the things I’m comfortable with him adjusting. It is about choosing God and recognizing his supreme authority over all things, especially the details of my life.
Giving God thanks is the 3rd practice of prayer. They explain this as celebrating what God means to us. Praying not so much “Thank you for a safe trip”, but “Thank you God for being at work in me and in all things.” When we thank God for just stuff - food, money, health success -we are not honoring him so much as appreciating the gifts he has given, even elevating the gifts above him. Our focus needs to be on that which can never be taken away, will never fail and never spoil. Our attention, even in giving thanks for blessings, has to focus on who he is and will always be regardless of the durability of a gift.
The final aspect the Brower’s address is that of requests. This is where our perspective on God’s authority is revealed. It is in requests that we reveal our desires. Are we desiring his plan, purpose and direction or merely our comfort. They suggest that the way to pray for a sickness is to say “God, please have your way in this illness.” Another example they put forth is “God, help me to see my money, time, health, home, family, job, activities, etc. as mostly about helping people find Jesus.”
I think the challenge of this is not to see life as something to be shaped into my vision. We need to live in such a way that we recognize that our lives are best when we try to fit them in around what God is already working to do to reveal his Glory, honor and completeness to others. It’s not about getting God to fix my life so it’s how I want it, but about adjusting my life so it lines up in the middle of where God already is.
What we believe comes out in how we think and speak and act. To believe in an all supreme God is to recognize that the things we encounter are part of his great plan to demonstrate his love and greatness to all people, and to help us to be more like him. God is much more concerned about our growth than our comfort.
Thanks, Greg for this post. As humans we are such prideful creatures and it is so easy to "lower" our view of God, the One ALmighty God and, "elevate" ourselves. This exposes itself in many areas of our lives, but especially in our prayer lives -- the lack of prayer or the content and heart behind those prayers! :) Keep posting, Lisa S.
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