How deeply rooted must unbelief be in our hearts when we are surprised to find our prayer answered!
"Lord, I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" Mark 9:24
Once I was leading a class about prayer. In the class I had a whole gambit of age groups with everyone from kids to senior adults. It was an awesome experience and one that still moves me spiritually.
One day we were concentrating on prayer chains. I asked them to start naming off some people we could pray for. And they had all kinds of names! From Joey's dog to Peggy's uncle. From those who were sick to those who don't have enough food to eat. I was furiously writing down all the requests and afterward I told them that I was going to divide up the list and invited each of them to pray for the people on the list.
The prayer chain started well. A little girl asked for healing for a person who was sick and for wisdom for an upcoming test. Then the next person asked for God to help people in another country and for Jesus to come into someone's life. And then it was another guy's turn. He was known for being easily embarrassed and hated to stand in front of the congregation for anything. He just sat in silence for a while and I prompted him by saying, "Just ask God to be with whoever is on your list."
He grimaced and prayed something along the lines of, "Dear God. Thank you for letting us be here and not be sick like Mary. Thank you for letting us pray to you and not be punished like those Christians in the Middle East. Thank you for letting us have a great big dinner with homemade rolls tonight and be with those who are starving like those in Africa."
I didn't quite know what to say. He had prayed. Which was a good thing. But also he had compared his situation to others. Which is a bad thing. He gave thanks for the blessings in his life. And at the same time asked God to be with those who didn't have the same kind of blessings.
Comparison and contrast. That's what he prayed.
And then I realized that he was praying exactly what he thought. He was thankful that he wasn't sick. He was happy that he could worship openly. And he was extremely thankful for the homemade rolls that night.
And at the same time, he was sad for the lady who was sick. He mourned for those who couldn't worship publicly and was hurt at the thought that anyone would go to bed hungry.
He was comparing the blessings in his life and contrasting them with those in need.
In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector and how differently they prayed. The tax collector prayed, "God be merciful to me, a poor sinner." The Pharisee prayed a prayer of comparison and contrast. He said, "God thank you that I am not like other people."
In the parable, it's easy for us to judge the Pharisee and say that his heart wasn't right. But really, we need to ask ourselves the same question.
Do our prayers have within them a comparison and contrast?
When we pray for others do we thank God that we're not like them. When we pray for the sick do we thank God that we're well? Or for the poor do we thank God for our blessings?
We may not say it outright, but quite often we're thinking it.
And really there is nothing wrong with that. We're happy that we're not afflicted and we should give thanks to God. But at the same time, we should always remember that we too are poor sinners in need of salvation. When you pray, pray what's on your mind. Use your own words and thoughts. But always and everywhere give thanks that you were once lost but now you're found.
PASTOR TROY CONRAD IS MINISTER OF THE FARMINGTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH. EMAIL: [email protected]. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.
Religion on 10/26/2016