Tired of Praying to God…
March 28, 2008 – 4:30 amMy daughter woke up yesterday morning and stated that she was tired of praying to God because she has been praying that God help her do better in gymnastics and it’s not happening. She wants to do well and can’t understand why she is not getting the results she wants. She was talking with my wife, so I got to sit back and smile. My grin was not about my wife having to deal with this topic because I wanted to pipe up and state the “truth according to Joe.” My grin was about the ability of my daughter to articulate an issue that she was having in her faith journey (okay, and a little of my grin was about my wife being the one she was talking to). My wife handled it beautifully!
When my daughter made that statement it was something that I (and probably all of us) connect with. There are prayers that seemingly go unanswered. The one that I like to complain the most about is flying. If I/we could just fly (and I mean like Superman - faster than a speeding bullet) then not only would it be cool, but transportation problems would cease (no more carbon emissions). Yes, I know that there are good reasons why God doesn’t answer that one, but hey Jesus walked through walls and ascended into the clouds (I know for you theology-heads, a whole nother debate). Anyway, not to go into my prayer example gone crazy…
The conversation caused me to think about the things that I have been praying for that have yet to be fulfilled and the things that have been fulfilled.
Like my daughter, I can get frustrated with God because there are verses in the Bible like Matthew 7:7-8. Often I find my answers in different ways like…
“No.”
“Not yet.”
“Get over yourself.”
“Who’s God here?”
“Go ahead, I’ll be here when you fall.”
I have grown to the point where I know that my negotiations can be futile and it is often an exercise in submission, but it took me a long time to get here and it took a lot of grace to tolerate my obnoxiousness. [Aside: Now, I find my challenge in two areas: First, is the challenge is when to stop operating out of the "nag God principle" to get prayers answered - verses like Luke 18:1-8, Luke 11:5-8, etc. Second, in recognizing the subtle difference between positive psychology and true answered pray. I'll blog at length about those some other day.]
My prayer for my daughter is that God answer her prayer and meets her expectation because I believe that God is missing a valuable opportunity to be glorified if her expectations are met (listen to me talk like I know what’s best for God…). She expects that the almighty and all powerful God who loves her will help her to do better so she can win - and in winning give the credit to God!
What have you been praying for and for how long?
What has your experience been with God in your prayer life?
Tags: prayer
3 Responses to “Tired of Praying to God…”
I’ve toyed with the idea of keeping a prayer journal in the past, but haven’t started. Part of me knows it’s because if I start, I won’t keep doing it. I’m too lazy. I’m no prayer warrior, so take what I’m about to say with a grain of salt.
It’s not about you. It’s not about praying for what “I” want. The Lord’s Prayer is a great model. It’s praying for God’s will to be done. Maybe praying that even if she isn’t the best gymnast, that God will be glorified in her efforts is a better prayer. Like I said, I have a lot of work to do in the area of prayer, so take it for the free advice that it is.
By Brett on Mar 28, 2008
I just completed a Lent study by starting a blog and working through my assignment online. It help a great deal to write down what I was thinking. Maybe your daughter could just put a the one key word, gym, on a calendar and see if that helped.
Your blog is great. Thanks for sharing.
Walker
By Walker on Mar 29, 2008
I’ve actually been experiencing just the opposite - God answers all of my prayers down to the detail. This started when I was in college. At one point I was so frustrated because it didn’t seem like prayer “worked.” Why pray, I wondered. I decided that we pray because God tells us to do so, and so I continued to do it in obedience, whatever the outcome. And not too long after that I entered this period of abundantly, very obviously answered prayers. I do not want this ever to stop - it keeps me very aware of God’s presence and attentiveness to me, and I often have needed that. God must have known that would be the case for me, and I am so thankful for his kindness.
God taught me a lesson about this recently, though - last year I prayed that my husband would be moved to a church with a parsonage in a nice suburb, a floor plan that would be conducive to raising a toddler, new paint, new carpet, new bathrooms, nice furtinure, an eager trustee group, lots of kids for my daughter to play with, and (since it was going to be his first full time appointment) I was quite specific about the salary. No kidding, my husband was made the associate pastor at a church in a nice suburb, a really helpful floor plan that additionally was almost exactly like the one I grew up with, new paint, new carpet, new bathrooms, new furniture, eager trustees, lots of kids, and the salary was just what I asked… And we have been miserable. It has just about killed me to be here. Next time we move, I’m going to be far less specific about what I think I want and need and far more concerned with being at a church that is a good match through the all-knowing eyes of God.
By klh on Mar 30, 2008