If you’ve attended a prayer meeting or a small group gathering, you will notice that most of the prayers we toss around are all about ourselves. Standard prayer concerns include family health, job, finances, safety and blessings for everyone we love. At night before we go to sleep, we say the same prayers with so little variation.
I have a question for you: doesn’t this bother you a bit?
If you really think it over, prayer now becomes like filling out an acquisition form in the office, something that goes along the lines of:
Dear Mr. Stockman, aka, God;
Request for immediate pullout of the following items:
1. health
2. safety
3. money
4. promotion
5. exciting love life
6. peace of mind
Thank you very much, love yah, mwaahh!
PS. Please send some to my family, relatives and to the love of my life.
Josh
Of course there’s nothing wrong with these prayers although if you really look under the hood, you notice this is all about asking for our own benefits and what makes us feel good. That’s what makes this kind of prayer boring. It doesn’t talk about submission to God, praying for the needs of others, repentance, forgiveness, compassion, and a host of other issues that are also relevant to life and godliness.
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