Prayer or Shopping List?

Relevant Bible Verses:-

1) Matt 6:9-13 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

2) Matt 6:13 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

3) Daniel 9:19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. (KJV)

The church I am attending scheduled the prayer meeting an hour before the main Sunday Morning Service. We would normally start off the prayer meeting with a simple song followed by a very short encouraging message.

Then the pastor will run down a list of prayer requests to be prayed for during this session before we break into smaller groups.

I noticed during this session, we would normally be praying and asking for God’s blessings, healing, personal needs, political situation, and lately we included the global financial crisis and Mumbai’s bombing on the list. The prayer requests are quite standard with a slight variation from week to week. It is like a shopping list – the list of items we currently need that we are bringing it up to God for answers or for God to provide. I am not against bringing our requests to God in prayer. In fact I believe it is a good practice to intercede with God in a personal way as well as in a corporate union, but I am sure there are more revelations and meanings than just praying in this manner.

After studying the above Bible verses, I am convinced that my prayer is not up to standard. It has always been praying for myself and/or for others. Contrary to this, the Lord has illustrated to me the unselfish way of praying. It has always been, “thine Kingdom”, “thine will”, “thine own sake”. It has always been for God!

Daniel prayed that God would hear and be gracious to him and the people, not for their sake, but for “thine own sake”!

The highest meaning of prayer is by which God may gain His authority and benefit. Apparently, we may be praying for many people, for many things, or for ourselves, but we must be able to go to the heart of the matter and say,

"O God, all these prayers are for Your sake. Whether or not our prayers are answered is of very little significance, but Your authority and benefit in these matters are of immense importance. Therefore, although we are praying for these people, events, and matters, actually our prayer is for Your sake, Lord."

I pray that the Lord will cover me with His blood and wisdom and allow me to start praying with the “thine Kingdom”, “thine will” and “thine own sake” attitude. Let us continue to trust God in an unselfish prayer manner that we would no longer be imploring God or beg for His pity, instead, we would be able to pray bravely, confidently and strongly, for we would not be praying for ourselves, but for God’s sake!

Have Thine Own Way Lord!