Selfish Prayers- Madison Flowers
St. John Damascene says: "Prayer is the asking of what
is right and fitting from God."[9] Many times our prayer is not heard
because we seek that which is not good for us: "You ask and you do not
receive, because you ask amiss."[10]
I really
enjoyed this quote from the Explanation of the Lord’s Prayer. There have been
so many times when I have prayed and begged God for things and been so upset,
and sometimes angry, with God when I did not get what I prayed so earnestly
for. In junior high I prayed for a boyfriend, in high school I prayed for a
Ford truck. I was beyond disappointed when that boy I liked asked another girl
out or when my 16th birthday came around and a shiny red Ford wasn’t
in my drive way. Looking back, however, I can see that the Lord was looking out
for me when He didn’t give me what I hd prayed for. The boy I had liked in junior
high was actually a horrible person and I cannot even drive a small car well so
thank God I wasn’t given a huge truck to run people over in. My point in all of
this is that I had not stopped to check and see if my desires were lining up with
the Lord’s desires when I was praying for these things. I was asking for both
out of selfish gain, not planning to use either of them for God’s glory and I think
that is what the quote above is trying to warn us against.
commented on AnnaKate and Moriah's posts
That is so true. I don't think it is that our prayers aren't heard, but if they are born out of selfish ambition then some of them just aren't answered. Also, I feel like we ignore the answer sometimes because it is not the answer we want to hear. I laughed way too hard when you said something about running over some people in a truck by the way.
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