| « Guest Entry: Properly Handling God's Abundant Blessings | Guest Entry: "9 Reasons Why I Don't Bring My Children to Sunday School or Church" » |
A Prayer-Focus Check-Up for Worship
OK, I'll just be blunt and get to the point. I think most of the corporate praying we do in church falls far short of God's intention for our prayer life together. We squander the opportunity that prayer affords. Week after week, we remain "small minded" in our prayers, focusing on the "discomforts of the moment" in our lives or the lives of those we care about, while the great issues of God's saving work in the world go unaddressed. And, I believe, this habitual abuse of prayer trains our people to remain immature and small-minded in their own prayer lives.
On any given Sunday, what does most of our prayer time look like?
- Praying for people who are sick.
- Praying for people who are facing surgery.
- Praying for people who are injured (broken arm, bad knee).
- Praying for rain when it's too dry.
- Praying for people who are having a tough time (home fire, unemployed, etc.)
And what is the essence of our every prayer? "Lord, fix it. Make the discomfort go away. Make the illness go away. Remove the struggle from our existence. Give us what we think we need."
Shallow, selfish, short-sighted, small-minded... maybe you're catching on that I detest this abuse of congregational prayer.
In contrast, what did Jesus pray about?
- The choices that would shape his ministry (like choosing disciples).
- The spiritual strength of his followers.
- That others would see God's glory, hear God's truth.
- That we as God's people would be unified.
- The spiritual protection and growth of his followers.
- That the Father's will would be done.
Jesus clearly cared about sickness and suffering. Otherwise he would not have done so much healing. But shouldn't the salvation of the lost rank a little higher on our concern list? When I die, it's not going to be a tragedy but a victory. And when we pray for those who are suffering, do we ask God to mobilize US to help, or are we just trying to skirt any ministry and dump the responsibility on God?
And what did the Apostle Paul pray about?
- The spiritual insight and discernment of his Christian friends.
- The growth of God's people in love and ministry.
- Strength for his friends in times of trial.
- Praise for God's work in the lives of new believers.
- That God's will would be demonstrated in Christian's lives.
- That the gospel of Jesus Christ would spread.
- That God's people would bear spiritual fruit.
If I were an outsider, using the communication between God's people and their Heavenly Father to figure out what was most important to the church of Jesus Christ, what would I conclude? Wouldn't it seem that the mission Christ gave the church was to promote Christians living physically healthy and pain free for as long as possible? And wouldn't it seem that Christians don't think THEY bear responsibility for caring for the sick, but only for telling God what to do about it?
How long before I would hear a passionate prayer asking God to guide us in addressing...
- those who live without Christ and without hope,
- neglected children,
- sexual abuse,
- poverty,
- the exploitation of the weak,
- crumbling marriages,
- the needs that surround us in our community,
- our need to know God more deeply,
- our responsibility for the sick, imprisoned, hungry,
- our need to surrender ourselves to God's will...
...and in all of these, a clear emphasis on "God, what is it you want us to do - this group of people, in this place, on this day - to demonstrate your active love and concern for the needs around us" vs. a passive "God, you take care of it, because I'm too busy."
Let me invite you to respond by listing those things YOU see us neglecting that are most certainly on the heart of God. And, you Hillsboro folks, maybe you'd like to also write it down on that "prayer request" slip in the bulletin and drop it in the offering plate: "Please pray for Hillsboro to act against predatory lending."
I'll be checking the comments box and the notes in the offering!
7 comments
I think my position is far MORE compassionate. Where is the compassion in refusing to let God mobilize you to care for the sick, for the hungry, for the lonely, etc., by saying "God, here's the problem in Joe's life and I'm dumping it on you so I can keep watching American Idol every night instead of visiting him, calling him, sending him a card, mowing his grass, taking him a meal..." Compassion is not found in telling God what to do, but in asking God how you can be a part of the solution to the hurts around you. That's what's missing from many of our group prayer times, and that's the subject of the blog post. So, I suspect we might be more in agreement than you think.
First, I don’t think God despises any prayers that are sincere and come from the heart, with a couple of notable exceptions. I am pretty sure that the prayer of the football coach who is asking for victory for his team is not well received in heaven. Ditto, the prayer that I heard from a minister when I was 15 years old, praying that integration would not come to that particular church. So I don’t think we should be self-conscious when we pray in church. But…..
From my reading of Scripture, it is pretty clear that God wants us to praise him as much as we ask Him to intercede on our behalf. But often we do just the opposite—we jump right to what’s wrong in our lives rather than being grateful for the many blessings we have received. It IS a little embarrassing in church when the prayer leader asks “what blessings have you received this week?” and no one responds (I am guilty of this as much as anyone). So I think we need to make a conscious effort to praise continually—we do have so much for which to be thankful.
Also, I am now aware that it is a whole lot easier for me to pray for someone rather than to actually get my behind off the sofa and actually go do something for that person. So personally, I think I have let praying be an excuse for me to avoid putting my Jesus into action. I am not denigrating the power of prayer—just saying that I need to both pray AND do. Instead of just sending my “adopted” Mountainside resident a card, I will go and visit her in person. Instead of praying for Ethel R., I will go see her. You get the idea.
Last, I have found that the hardest part of being a Christian thus far in my life is being submissive to God’s will. Sometimes we pray as if by praying hard, often, and with a lot of people, we will gain control of a situation. If this were true, there would not be any sick people, no lay offs, no car wrecks, no errant children. But Jesus tells us to pray “Thy will be done.” So I am resolved in my future prayers to acknowledge God’s supremacy and pray for myself that I will believe that whatever happens, it is according to God’s plan.
And, sports prayers - that's a whole new area! How many people have been praying for the Redskins to go to the Superbowl? I once played golf with a group of ministers in which there was an African American pastor. When a fellow golfer prayed for his shot to be a good one, this pastor said, "Frankly ______, I don't think God gives a damn about your golf game." (Hey, I'm quoting.) It was a truth about the proper use of prayer that I've never forgotten.
Yes, of course, we should pray. I’m not going to deny the importance of prayer; however, I do NOT want the church or myself to use prayer as an excuse for inactivity when the need right in front of us is so intense.
I'm in agreeance (and I'm pretty sure I just made that word up) with the thoughts that we should not only ask God to provide in situations, but to go out and BE the hands and feet of Christ as well. But the main thing that keeps coming to my mind when I think about prayer (and the comment about unsaved people being turned off by thinking we can't come to God with even small things) is that if I were an unsaved person observing a community of believers taking time to speak with the God that they tell me about; the God who created the world, who split the Red Sea, who raised the dead, who sent His only Son to die for us just so we could have a relationship with Him... If I were looking in on that time, and all I saw was them asking things of Him, I would be a little confused.
If we are claiming that our God is Creator, awesome, indescribable, Savior, LORD of Heaven and Earth, The Beginning and the End... Shouldn't our prayers reflect that? When we come before God and He allows us to SPEAK with Him, shouldn't we be awe-struck and consumed with how incredible He is? Look through Psalms at David's prayers. He does ask God for help and guidance and deliverance. But also, a majority of his prayers are just telling God how amazing He is and thanking Him for the blessings He has poured out (even as David is in hiding from his enemies!)
How much of a testimony to our God would it be if people came into our church and instead of constantly treating God as JUST someone to go to when we have things that need "fixed", we actually stood in awe of who He is. It makes my heart sad to think of how often we just go straight to God with needs (and I'm just as guilty as the next person). Think of how He must long to hear His children come to Him and just thank Him and praise Him and bring Him the glory He deserves.
I think if we could truly understand the God we are praying to, our prayers would be radically different.
Comment feed for this post