A Problem in Praying

When church folks choose up sides on some matter of disagreement, it often seems that pausing for prayer might be a good idea.   And while it is a good idea, the problem is that each side approaches the prayer in light of their own expectations.   Both sides usually end up telling God what He should do.  Both sides expect God to see things their way.  It is nothing but a formula for someone being deeply disappointed in God which often results in some anger being directed His way because of His failure to see and do correctly. 

 

How do we pray for God's will when the only way His will can be acceptable is if it dovetails inside our will?  What we often want God to do is to see things our way.  But, it is not just opposing groups in church disputes which struggle with this issue because anytime we pray about the important issues of our personal life, we are more than biased toward the way we perceive to be the right way.  In praying it is often hard to pray "thy will be done" when what we really want done is for our will to be done.  And, when God does not buy into that scenario, we get confused, sometimes disappointed, and often angry. 

 

Those who think that praying "thy will be done" is a piece of cake must first lay aside "my will be done."  Jesus managed to pull it off, but we struggle with it.  God is not with us to do our bidding.  The way it is supposed to work is that we are to do His bidding.  When we pray and discover that we are never open to changing our mind or our heart about some issue which touches our life, we may need to look again at the way we are praying.  Can we be as content with God saying "no" to us as we are with Him saying "yes?'  Until we have answered honestly this question, we are simply fooling ourselves.