Hammer on Anvil '

Last week I was driving home from the store and flipped on the radio. I shouldn't have been surprised at what I heard, given that it was CCM (contemporary Christian music), but occasionally I am fortunate enough to turn it on and hear Matt Redman or Gungor.

This was not one of those occasions, though. It was an advertisement of an upcoming interview with the woman Sandra Bullock portrayed in "The Blind Side." This woman said, and I kid you not, "The Bible says to pray about everything, and I want a good parking space!" My heart sank, and I said aloud, "God, forgive us."

Prayer is an amazing privilege to me, and I take it very seriously. How does something so sacred, something so powerful, get skewed to be an instrument to satisfy our lazy, sinful flesh? James 4:3 clearly states, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."

When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, Jesus gave them what we now call The Lord's Prayer as an example to follow. In it, it is clear that first we are to worship God in our prayer, acknowledging that He is holy, and praying for His will to be done, and His purposes accomplished. Then we are to ask for "our daily bread," which simply means trusting God to provide your basic needs (food, money to pay your bills, etc.). We are to ask forgiveness for our sins, and be sure that we are not holding anyone else hostage by not forgiving them. Finally, we are to pray that we are not led into temptation, and ask God to deliver us from evil.

We live in a sad, tired world full of people who need God's redeeming grace. How can you pray about a good parking space when brothers and sisters in Christ are being tortured and persecuted for their faith? According to Christian Alliance for Orphans, some 153 million children are without homes and loving families. Some 27 million people are enslaved by human trafficking. The divorce rate is astronomical, even in the church. More than a million abortions are performed yearly in our country, and many post-abortive women are desperate and hurting, yet feel like they couldn't possibly come to the church for help.

We should be drawn to crisis situations like a moth to a flame, bringing the compassion and love and peace of Christ to the suffering. When Jesus sent the disciples out, He commissioned them not only to bring the good news of the gospel. He said, "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons" (Matt. 10:8). James 1:27 exhorts us to care for widows and orphans.

Are you beginning to see the picture here? We are to be God's hands and feet in this hurting world, and if our focus is on our own comfort, we have missed the boat big-time. Timothy tells us to "pray for all people, asking God for what they need and being thankful to Him. Pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God" (1 Tim. 2:1-2, New Century Version). Paul exhorts us in Colossians 4:2 to "continue steadfastly" in prayer. The Greek word for "continue" in this verse means to be constantly diligent and to persevere.

If your prayers are rather self-centered and the net you cast isn't very large, I encourage you today to ask God to expand your vision. We serve a big God, and if your prayers are mainly geared toward your own family and friends, your God is too small. He cares about every person on the face of this earth. Pray for the millions who are perishing without hearing about Jesus. Pray for those who go to bed hungry every night. Pray for those in prison, and those who take the gospel inside those dark walls. Pray for the persecuted church.

It may sound like a daunting task, but the Holy Spirit is ready to help you. Romans 8:26 says, "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." He will bring to your mind who and what to pray for. Sometimes it helps to make a list of prayer needs, and you could start by including some of the things I have mentioned in this blog.

I believe when we begin to pray as God intends us to pray, we will never utter lame prayers for good parking spaces. We will be so caught up in the wonder of partnering with God in bringing His purposes to pass in the world that self-serving prayers will no longer be in our vocabulary.