Tuesday, June 9, 2009

What to Pray For?

Dear God,
Please help me through this day. Help me to finish at the nursing home as quickly as possible, and please keep that one lady from throwing up on me. Please let the afternoon go fast and help others to see you in me. Please be with my friends and give them a good day too.
Amen.

Does anyone else pray like this? I've been trying to do better, but quite often this is what my prayers mean, even if I'm not saying those exact words.

Our Sunday School class has been studying prayer. This past weekend we talked about (among other things) praying for others. We looked at some verses that revealed the heart and focus of the early Church.

They prayed...that they might receive the Holy Spirit... -Acts 8:15

I keep asking that the...Father may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you... -Ephesians 1:17-18

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being... -Ephesians 3:16

Pray also for me, that enever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mysetery of the gospel. -Ephesians 6:19

We constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. -2 Thessalonians 1:11

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. -Philemon 6

One of the first things we noticed about these prayers is their focus. We tend to focus our prayers on the physical, while the early Christians found it important to pray for the spiritual. We pray for safe travel and a good day, they prayed for wisdom and revelation. We pray for a headache to go away, they prayed to know the hope of Christ. We pray to have enough money to pay the bills, they prayed that God's purpose would be fulfilled in them.

Not that we can't or shouldn't pray for safety and healing and daily needs. But what would our lives look like if we prayed for each other the things listed in the verses above? How would that affect our very approach to prayer?

Our challenge in Sunday School is to pray these Scriptural things for each other this week. I suspect it might rock our worlds a little bit.

2 comments:

DeMo said...

I hadn't really noticed the difference until now. But it doesn't surprise me that our prayers today are self-centered. This is a good reminder of where our focus needs to be.

Matthew T said...

Yeah we tend to be self centered in our prayer lives. Sometimes I find it hard to pray because of that. I mean why pray if I am asking about things for myself? One verse that you did not have that I like is Mark 9:24 I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!

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