Take away all the time you spend asking God for things during your prayers and how long would they be? One minute? Fifteen seconds? Prayer is a powerful tool in which the Christian finds themself directly in the presence of God, even if we are in our kitchen, car, or office. And yet, I believe so often we squander this experience by turning prayer into that of a young child going through his Christmas list. “I want this, I want that, and please give me this.” Know what I mean?
I’m not saying that asking for things in prayer is bad, in fact, God calls His people to ask for things! He wants to give you blessings. Wherein lies the problem, is when prayer is only that. We might open our prayers with, “God thank you for your goodness and care,” and then spend the rest of the whole prayer asking for things.
That’s a problem.
When we notice our prayers are all about us, and very little about God, I think a lot of us stop praying for the physical, and switch to spiritual and mental needs. Instead of a car or a new job, we may pray: “God, I ask for greater faith.” “God, please increase my joy as I battle against depression and anxiety.”
Problem solved. I’m not asking for anything physical or worldly. How could increased faith or joy be a bad prayer? Well, it’s not. And yet, where in that prayer did we praise God for His goodness revealed? When did we stop and say “thank You for all that You’ve done for me”?
Different type of requests, same result. No praise to God. All about us.
Where am I going with this?
We need to rework our modern understanding of prayer. Prayer is a time where we can speak directly to God. It’s worship. It’s sitting down, nothing left in the tank, at the end of our rope, and saying, “God, I love you. Thank you for all the protection and strength You’ve given me.” Prayer is first and foremost about God, not you or me.
Prayer ought to be a time where we stop and just praise God for His various attributes, the blessings He has already given us, and His finished purposes and plans. When is the last time you or I just spent a few minutes in prayer by just thanking God? By just praising Him? In our day-to-day prayer time, how much time is spent on that? Again, my original question: Take away all the time you spend asking God for things during your prayers and how long would it be?
I’m going to take a longshot and say, show me your prayers, and I’ll show you your heart and soul. If all I do in my prayers is ask God for things, then God is just a vending machine, and I just want stuff from Him, not a relationship. Think about is this way: If your child or spouse only ever spoke, or only ever complimented (gave thanks and praise) to you in hopes that you would then give in to their next request, do they really want a relationship with you, or just your wallet? See what I mean? We’d quickly call that a fake love or relationship.
Bu when it comes to God, it’s okay. Right? By no means!
My goal is not to cast judgment or throw stones. I’m oh so guilty of my prayers being all about me, veiled in spirituality. Rather, my goal is to have us evaluate our hearts and our prayer time. Prayer is so much more than asking God for things. Additionally, your soul will feel more enriched and fulfilled if your prayer life takes on a spirit of thanksgiving and praise to God.
Ask God for things, yes and amen! But do not let the legacy of your prayer life, the defining factor, be “God please give me…”
Below are some examples of things we can praise God for in our prayer time. My challenge to you is this. For one week, do not ask God for anything, and use prayer to give glory, honor, praise, etc… to God. Swing the pendulum the complete opposite way for one week, to help expose you to this type of prayer.
- Praise God for saving you for no other reason, but for His glory.
- Thank God for the blessings already in your life (job, family, car, etc…)
- Pick a specific attribute of God, and thank Him for that (His lovingkindness, justice, mercy, wrath, vengeance, etc…)
- Praise God for sending Jesus
- Praise God for dying on the cross for you
- Praise God for watching over you.
- Praise God for the specific ways you have seen Him move in your life in the past
You can do this, I promise it isn’t that hard once you get going!
North Bullitt Christian Church 