I have a confession. Sometimes I think people's prayer requests are dumb. I know that is wrong, and that part of me that jumps to judgment needs a lot of work. It is so hard for my mind to stay focused on God when I'm talking to him about:
-Little Suzie's nail biting.
-No rain for an upcoming camping trip.
-Joe's tomato plants finally coming in.
I mentally roll my eyes at these kinds of requests. I'm intense, and I like things black or white, so my preference is to categorize prayer requests as "necessary" or "dumb." I am also someone who totally disagrees with the statement that there are no dumb questions. OF COURSE there are dumb questions! Who's with me??
Largely, though, it is a matter of concentration. I have a hard enough time staying focused when the prayer requests actually do seem important to me.
That last sentence reveals the core of the problem. It's the word "me."
"Me" doesn't get to decide which prayer request is legit. "Me" isn't privy to what is really underlying Little Suzie's nail biting. "Me" is supposed to be praying for others, loving others, through their own messy circumstances, even if I don't get how messy those circumstances are. "Me" has to learn to tolerate the fact that since I don't know everything (whaaat?), it is not my province to judge which words people use to speak to God.
"Me" doesn't get to decide which prayer request is legit. "Me" isn't privy to what is really underlying Little Suzie's nail biting. "Me" is supposed to be praying for others, loving others, through their own messy circumstances, even if I don't get how messy those circumstances are. "Me" has to learn to tolerate the fact that since I don't know everything (whaaat?), it is not my province to judge which words people use to speak to God.
When it comes to breakdowns in my prayer life, it really is all about "me."
My big gripe are folks who use prayer request time as a time of unloading little details about other folks that border line on gossip. I find myself drifting into questions that I don't have answers for that I'm sure God wouldn't like. Nice post! Short, sweet, and to the point. :-)
ReplyDeleteI can't figure out how to post my name to my comment. It is me. Jim C.
ReplyDeleteMy peeve is people who share a prayer request for someone i feel like THEY ought to be praying for themselves...and yet (like you said, judgmental me) I have serious doubts that they are. It's like, if they brought it before the group and asked US to pray, job done. I feel like if God put that person in YOUR sphere of influence..YOU pray for them. And I mean really pray...not the usual, casual one-off as you're drifting off to sleep, but the digging in, entering the throne room kind of prayer. THEN come to others and ask them to join you in that effort. Maybe i'm just being petty myself, but i fee that way often.
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