It’s the first day of May today and as I woke, the first thought that came to my mind where: Why do I pray?
For a few months now our church family has been using the first and the fifteenth of each month as a reminder to pray for the work the God is doing in His church.
I was thankful that my first thoughts this morning were turned to prayer. That’s not always the case — often I’m thinking about the things I need to get done.
But today I was thinking about prayer and why I pray. And these words came back to me that I had recently read from Charles Swindoll:
“we pray for God to change circumstances,
He prefers to change us” (1)
Often I catch myself praying for me — for the things I want to see happen. But prayer is far less about me changing God’s mind and much more about God changing my mind. Prayer is far less about God’s will being changed to my will but my will being changed to His. Prayer is really not about me moving God to my plans, but about God moving me to His plans. I pray for God to change others and in answer to my prayer God often chooses instead to change me.
I needed to remember that today and I hope that helps you as you pray.
There’s a great reason for prayer found in our memory verse for May, 2012 found in Isaiah 25:1
O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
I hope you’ll pray today and every day for this ministry that God has made us each a part of. And as God answers our prayers, let’s exalt Him together, let’s praise His name as He does wonderful things — things that may often be different than we were thinking. As we yield to God in prayer, let’s be ready for God to change us, let’s be ready for Him to do wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
Photo by: SteveD (Creative Commons)
—
1. Swindoll, Charles R. (2010-05-26). Insights on John (p. 259). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.