What are you Praying For?

Dear God,
You are so good!  Please help me today to have a good day.  Please protect me from bad things, and fill me with joy.  God please keep me safe and bless me.  Please heal those who are sick and don't let anything bad happen to us.  Help us to look more and more like Jesus.  Thank you for sending Him to die on the cross for our sins.  In Jesus name.  Amen

So often I let my prayers sound like this.  I ask God to bless me.  I ask God to give me _________.  I ask God to protect me.  I ask God to heal everyone who is sick.  I ask for peace and comfort. I ask God to help me look more like Jesus.  Then I thank Him casually for all He has done for me and for giving up His only son to die for me, say amen, and go on my merry little way feeling good about myself.

Recently so many different things have been challenging my prayer life.  God has been showing me that praying for safety, comfort, peace, healing, blessings, and protection are not always what is best.  I must remember that He is sovereign.  God has been showing me over and over again that often times what draws me closest to Him is pain, helplessness, sickness, and feeling uncomfortable.  He's really been challenging me recently to change the way I pray and what I pray for.  I found myself just last week praying that God would allow me to go through trials and pain that would draw me closer to Him.  It scares me to ask Him to do that, but I truly believe that there is nothing better in this world than knowing God more and more.  I know that sometimes we must suffer to grow in our faith and dependence on Him.  I trust that He who created the whole world and whose power is limitless is in control and that He works things out for the good of those who love Him.

So often we pray and pray that we will be more like Jesus, but then we turn around and in the same prayer pray that we won't have to go through any of the things that Jesus went through.  Our prayers are focussed on us instead of focussed on Him.  Often times I pray for things that will bring me immediate benefit and joy.  Sometimes I think God listens to us and says, "you just don't get it.  I want to give you something that is far greater than just the immediate pleasures you are asking for, but it's not going to be comfortable."

So many times when I pray I lose sight of eternity.  When Jesus prayed in the garden before He was crucified He kept eternity in mind.  He knew that He was about to suffer great pain, but He knew that He must suffer in order to save me from my sins.  He was able to pray not my will but yours be done because He kept eternity in sight.  He kept Kingdom vision.

I pray that we will trust that God is constantly working things out for the good of those who love Him.  He is constantly working things out for the good of the Kingdom.  He is concerned far more with my relationship with Him, and His Kingdom than He is with my comfort and material blessings.  I know that His Word is true and therefore I can trust fully in Him.  I can trust that He has a plan.  I can trust that He truly knows what is best.  I can trust His love for me.

He has my complete trust.  This changes everything!  My prayer life is no longer... give me, give me, give me, bless me, bless me, bless me.  It's falling on my knees in humility before the Creator of the Universe.  It's your will be done.  God send me through the fire if I will come out more purified.  God let me experience pain if it will draw me closer to your heart.  God take away my comforts and teach me to rely FULLY on you.  God give me joy even when the trials come.  God may I trust fully in you even when the evil one attacks.  God when persecution comes fill me with boldness to speak your word.  God use me to advance your Kingdom.  Give me only what I need to survive today so that I will never stop depending on you.  God, thank you!  Thank you for the way you have shown me love!  Thank you for the way you have shown me what it truly means to give and to sacrifice.  God thank you for the ways you have blessed me.  You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say, Blessed be the Lord.  God, thank you for just allowing me to come into your presence.  You are the one true King!

May we pray with eternity in mind.  May we seek what is best for the Kingdom.  May we trust that our God is working things out for the good of those who love Him!