Praying for the Wrong Things?
Posted by Meredith Griffin on June 23, 2008
I want to thank Michael Spencer for his post at Jesus Shaped Spirituality on Pray at the Pump. As I read Michael’s post, I thought that it corresponded to this past Sunday’s message in some ways. Using Paul’s defense before king Agrippa, we discussed the disparity between Paul’s wish that all who hear his voice become as he is (a Christian), but without chains, and our contemporary wishes to have our own needs, wants, desires, hopes, dreams, and aspirations met by God. The central point of Sunday’s message was our need to have our hopes transformed from inward-focused and selfish, to other/closure-focused. We ought to desire opportunities to share our witness of God’s grace toward us.
Paul, knowing the hardship that awaited him in Jerusalem (Agabus prophesied these things to Paul at Caesarea), did not hesitate to place the cause of Christ above his own comfort. How different a time we live in. For those who are interested, the article that touched off this dialogue on Michael’s blog and this one can be found at The Hilltop Online.
For those who won’t take the time to the original article, in essence a local activist in Maryland received a call from God to organize persons to pray for the lowering of gas prices at the pumps. A local radio station picked up the idea, and its host had the following response as quoted from the article,
“We had Rocky on our show a couple of times in April,” said Ethan Youker, executive producer and co-host of “The Buckethead Show,” which airs on WXTB 98 Rock in Tampa, Fl.
“Mostly to have fun with the whole concept of praying at the pump,” he said. Youker admitted the show’s hosts did not believe prayer would work in response to rising gas prices.“We just thought it would be good radio, and it was,” Youker said.”
What are we praying for most often? Either individually or collectively, what are our prayer requests? Do our prayers betray what is in our hearts? How often are we praying for the opportunity to express the love of Christ to a friend, neighbor, family member, or stranger? Is our wish the same as Paul’s, or are we using God as some sort of cosmic Santa Claus? What do you think?
