I can remember the first prayer I prayed and I prayed it routinely; I kind of turned it into a formula prayer. Here's what I prayed at the age of 3 or 4. "Dear God, bless this food and everybody around the world. Amen." I figured I could just make the prayer real general and cover everything and we could get right to eating. Unfortunately that prayer lacked heart; it lacked intimacy.
There is just something in us that goes to the same place over and over when we pray. And the other thing about prayer that is kind of funny - if you're like me, all of my prayers generally end up being about myself. "Help me, bless me, keep me, protect me, teach me, give me, and if I'm really spiritual bless and keep and protect my family and my friends." And if you've got a friend in need I'll pray for them, once, but then I'll drift back to - me. And it's all me, mine, me, me.
What if God never created prayer so that we could just get stuff from Him, like a candy machine. What if we remembered that prayer is not solely about our needs and our wants. What if all that asking is just one little part of prayer?
The most important thing in the world is your personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, because everything else flows from that one thing. The reason we have been given the gift of prayer is not as a good luck charm or lucky rabbits foot, it's not a formula, it's not about "help me, bless me", that's just a portion of it. God has invited you and me into a relationship characterized by intimacy and connection.
Look at how Jesus instructs us to pray...
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him" Matthew 6:5-8
I like this post. I've been reading a book on prayer lately. Something that really interests me. I try to remind myself to love on other people with the name of Jesus. I have to remember what it says in James 5:16 when I pray. "Pray one for another so that you may be healed."
ReplyDeleteI always struggle with prayer. Like you, I find the word "me" being repeated over and over. I also feel like I'm always praying for the same things - then I start struggling with the whole faith thing and feel that if I had stronger faith, I wouldn't be praying for the same things all the time. It's a constant struggle for me.
ReplyDeleteI'm constantly struggling with the "me,me,me" prayers. Sometimes I stop mid prayer and just thank God or talk about Him becuase I realize just how selfish I am sometimes. He will take care of my needs. I don't have to beg Him to.
ReplyDeleteI struggle with this. I need to be better at praying when things are good, not just when things are bad and all I do is ask for help.
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