October 21, 2022

I am often amazed at how obtuse I can be. I’m 73 and feel like a novice in some areas of my Christian life. Prayer, for instance. I’ve struggled with it for years, trying to get beyond prayer as a laundry list of things I want God to do. Prayers like that are an exercise in role reversal—we tell God what we want, and he does it. When we pray that way, we become the master and God is the servant. That is backwards. But how do we get out of that rut?

At our pastors prayer group a couple weeks ago, I picked up a little book on prayer that has been very helpful, so I share part of it today in hopes it is as helpful to you as it has been to me.  Chapter 10 is titled “Go for the Glory,” and emphasizes the importance of praying for God’s glory instead of merely asking for things that will make our lives more comfortable, easy, or convenient. The author cites various Scriptures that I’ve known for years, but have never taken them together in one place or time. Doing so opened my eyes to a dimension of prayer I’ve neglected to my shame and to the detriment of God’s kingdom. Consider these:

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. —John 14:13 

 

“Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” —Philippians 2:9-11 

“This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”” —John 21:19 

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

—I Corinthians 10:31 

“In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.”

—Ephesians 1:11-12

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” —Ephesians 3:20-21 

There are plenty of other texts we could use, but even these few remind us that the ultimate goal of our prayers is that the glory of God be known in the world. In John’s Gospel where Jesus tells Peter how he is going to die, he tells him that although it won’t be the kind of death most of us would wish for, it will glorify God.

How often my prayers have had less to do with glorifying God than with accomplishing my own agenda. As I said at the beginning, I’m a slow learner, but slow or not, I am learning, and am being very deliberate about how I pray, making sure to the best of my ability that my purpose and goal is lifting high the Cross and honoring God the Father through Jesus Christ.