What Is Your Prayer Type?


Over the past few months I’ve seen so many different Facebook quizzes users can take to determine personality, who loves you most, what Looney Tune character are you like, and on and on it goes. Oh yes they even have ‘Christian’ quizzes- what Bible character are you like- I think that is the only one I have seen, but there may be more. I haven’t seen one on What Is Your Prayer Type? So, I think I will help out Facebook users with this article to see what your prayer type is not according to Facebook.

Bargain with God prayers are those you pray when something major happens in your life. Sometimes it is prayed like this, “Oh, God help me”, or “Oh my God I need…”.  I once heard a man share that when he was in the military a disastrous, life-threatening incident was happening. He knew he was not going to survive so he said, “God if you get me out of here I will love you for the rest of my life.” God saved him from death in that situation but he forgot about God for many years. This man used God to get him out of the emergency but soon forgot his side of the bargain he made with God.

Did you ever drive up to a fast food screen, place your order, get to the window, pay, drive away only to find the order was not correct. When we pray in that vain I call these  “Fast Food prayers.”  I drive up, place my request, and pick up the answer at the window, then drive away. When I pray ‘fast food’ prayers I am not waiting on God. I’m just expecting to ‘say my piece’, get my ‘order’ filled and move on. I don’t spend time with God. I only expect to get and specifically get what I asked for. God desires our time not in a fast food sort of way.

The Shopping List prayers. I have my long list of wants and desires, but quite often I haven’t listened to God I just talk. I give God my list, oh I speak it out to him but it’s truly about me rather than about a relationship with God. If we had a relationship like this with friends we would probably refer to this as a ‘user’ relationship. I doubt the friendship or relationship would last for a long time. It is a shallow approach to praying to God who loves the people He created and desires a relationship with us.

So you ask- then how should we pray? In Luke 11 one of Jesus disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus said, when you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.” The beginning of this prayer focuses attention on God not self. So the model Jesus left us with is to first come into prayer focused on God the Father. The next part, “Give us our daily bread.” Here now is where we can ask for our needs to be met. It comes after we have recognized God for whom He really is. Then Jesus says, “Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.” In this forgiveness of our sins and those who have sinned (wronged) against us, we are righting our relationship with God and with others. Jesus sums up the prayer with a request, “And lead us not into temptation.” We acknowledge we need God’s help in resisting temptation.


The model prayer Jesus gave us is not bargaining, fast food, or a shopping list. It is a prayer that causes us to remember we need to spend time with God recognizing Him. David said in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Being still and knowing He is God causes our attitude in prayer to be in the proper perspective.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mountain Climbing

I love music. Although, I’ve had many years of music lessons I can’t play a musical instrument but I love music for the words in the songs. The words of so many songs have such rich meaning to me. I listen to music when I am working. I found that if I have music playing in the background I am able to more fully focus on my work and I seem to accomplish so much more than when it is totally quiet. The Bible is filled with songs. There is one tucked at the end of Habakkuk, one of the minor prophets, that I found to be of great blessing. Chapter 3 verses 17-19, “ Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” Everyone faces mountains over the course of thei
Read more

Marked Safe In the Storm

Image
Acts 27:17, 20-26 NLT Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before the wind. The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone. No one had eaten for a long time.  Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss. But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.  For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’ So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as
Read more

MIGHTY small

Image
This insect looks so elegant when it moves. They have stealthy- slow, graceful, calculated movements. Watch out though because they are powerful. Praying Mantis’ are predators. While they typically cannot hurt humans, according to National Geographic studies they have been known to eat “frogs, lizards, salamanders, newts, shrews, mice, snakes, tiny soft-shelled turtles, and even once a small bat.”  Never underestimate SMALL. Never underestimate ELEGANT.  I spent several minutes observing this insect. As it approached the end of the rail there was a calculated turn to make it to the adjacent rail. However, after several attempts to determine if there was ‘sure footing’ on the down side this critter decided to turn around and opted for the sure thing.  When I see things like this I always ask myself- What life lesson can you observe or learn from this bit of nature. This little guy/gal (I don’t know how to tell the gender of a praying mantis) first reminded me to walk
Read more