Prayer is an integral part of our spiritual journey. But, one must ask, why? If you were to stop and analyze your recent prayers and do a survey of your specific requests, could you answer the question of why prayer is so vital for our spiritual well being?
I ask the question only because a review of my own recent prayers reveal a troubling tendency. My prayers, more often than not, take the form of petitions. Asking for specific needs and desires, of course, is an important part of praying. See, e.g., Matt. 7:7-12. But praying encompasses far more than mere petitions or requests. For, if praying was solely concerned with such things, it would be difficult to discern why praying is so crucial (after all, God knows what we need before we even ask. See Matt. 6:7-9.). It is interesting to note that the only time in the Scriptures (that I can tell) that Christ prays for His own desires, and not for someone else or to seek the Father, His prayer was not directly granted. See Matt. 26:38-39, 42.
It seems, then, that spiritually nourishing prayers encompass much more. The essence of prayer, its purpose, is to draw the individual nearer to God. Praying is a time for us to listen; to express our true thoughts and emotions; to seek the face of God; a time to carry out the second greatest commandment by praying for others; a time to better understand one's self, one's short comings, and how they might be overcome. Ultimately, prayer allows us to spend intimate and quiet moments with God. As with any living being, the amount of quality time that you spend together is directly proportionate to the quality of your relationship.
If you have ever spent any amount of time around a young child walking through the toy aisle crying "I want, I want, I want" then you understand how tiresome such moments can be. I hope that our prayer life is not similar. There is a time for expressing our wants and needs. But, in looking back on your own recent prayers, can you answer the question why?
Soli Deo Gloria
I ask the question only because a review of my own recent prayers reveal a troubling tendency. My prayers, more often than not, take the form of petitions. Asking for specific needs and desires, of course, is an important part of praying. See, e.g., Matt. 7:7-12. But praying encompasses far more than mere petitions or requests. For, if praying was solely concerned with such things, it would be difficult to discern why praying is so crucial (after all, God knows what we need before we even ask. See Matt. 6:7-9.). It is interesting to note that the only time in the Scriptures (that I can tell) that Christ prays for His own desires, and not for someone else or to seek the Father, His prayer was not directly granted. See Matt. 26:38-39, 42.
It seems, then, that spiritually nourishing prayers encompass much more. The essence of prayer, its purpose, is to draw the individual nearer to God. Praying is a time for us to listen; to express our true thoughts and emotions; to seek the face of God; a time to carry out the second greatest commandment by praying for others; a time to better understand one's self, one's short comings, and how they might be overcome. Ultimately, prayer allows us to spend intimate and quiet moments with God. As with any living being, the amount of quality time that you spend together is directly proportionate to the quality of your relationship.
If you have ever spent any amount of time around a young child walking through the toy aisle crying "I want, I want, I want" then you understand how tiresome such moments can be. I hope that our prayer life is not similar. There is a time for expressing our wants and needs. But, in looking back on your own recent prayers, can you answer the question why?
Soli Deo Gloria
3 comments:
Yes, as you point out, one significant part of our prayers should be requests for others' needs. This reminds one of the following poem someone wrote long ago:
Lord, help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way,
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for "Others"
"Others" Lord, yes, "Others"
Let this motto be,
Help me live for others
That I may live like Thee.
That is a good poem/prayer, one that I have never heard before.
Thanks for sharing!
I received an e-mail from a friend with a fuller version of this poem. He thought that the poem is attributed to General William Booth, but he was not entirely sure.
Here is the poem in full:
Lord, help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way,
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for "Others"
Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true,
And know, that all I do for You
Must needs be done for "Others"
And when my work on earth is done,
And my new work in Heaven´s begun,
May I forget the crown I´ve won,
While thinking still of "Others"
"Others" Lord, yes, "Others"
Let this motto be,
Help me live for others
That I may live for Thee.
Or
That I may live like Thee
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