Prayer is not the normal expression of humanity. The act of surrendering complete control of our circumstances, desires, needs, and concerns into the control of someone or something outside of ourselves is difficult, especially when we cannot see the One we are giving control to.
As humans, we are innately selfish creatures. When it comes to prayer, we love to quote John 16:24, which says, “Ask, and you shall receive”. We take on a ‘gimme’ mentality and treat God, the Creator of the universe, as our personal genie. This mindset perverts prayer and decreases God while uplifting ourselves. If you allow yourself to be self-aware enough during your prayers, you will notice how often you say “I” and “me”.
Within the intended bounds, prayer will always forsake the kingdom of me for the Kingdom of God. Prayer is abandoning my reliance on me and running toward the rest that can be found only when I fully rely on the power of God.
Prayer must be kept in the proper placement of our life. Proper placement demands death to pride and sensitivity at the feet of Jesus in prayer.
I would challenge you to take time away from always praying simply to ask for something. God is not your personal genie and has more in store for you than just granting your endless list of wants. And lets be honest, most of what we ask for are wants.
Too often we treat God just like He’s just waiting to serve us. We live our lives thinking we are in control but when something happens that seems out of our control we go running to God, put on our puppy dog eyes, beg him for what we want, then go back to living our lives in our own little kingdoms.
Now, I’m not saying it is wrong to ask God for the desires of our hearts and present Him with our deepest worries. However, I am saying we should be cautious of how we present ourselves to Him. I would suggest you start being intentional about taking space to just talk to God. Challenge yourself to spend time in prayer without once asking for something.
Simply talk to Him because:
- He is worthy of that and so much more
- He is your best friend and most important relationship
- You honestly want to talk to Him and hear from Him
Gracie Waldrop 