Culturally Irrelevant

My wife went out with a guy one time who looked into her eyes from across the table and asked this question: “So, is this going anywhere, or am I just wasting my time?”

Ouch.

Needless to say, that relationship did NOT go anywhere. My wife, the classy woman that she is, laughed and moved on. This story came up the other morning as my wife and I were talking about the temptation to have a selfish agenda in prayer.

For me, it would sound something like “Ok, God, if I’m going to get out of bed this early or get on my knees instead of watching TV, you better show up” (aka, you better make this worth my time!!!) Ha ha, now that’s funny! And if that sounds presumptuous and arrogant…that’s because it is! And most of us are guilty of this until he busts us up with his heart for the lost and what’s really going on. In fact, there have been times when I didn’t want to sit there for an hour and nothing happen, so I just skipped out and did something else instead.

When I was a teenager, there were three things that could make me really cranky: 1. lack of sleep, 2. an empty stomach, and 3. getting wrapped up in my own world. That’s pretty much still true, even though I’m 33 not 13. I’m learning how to deal with the first two (kind of), to which every parent of small children can relate. But that third one still hangs me up.

My mom used to say “Benjamin, go do something for someone else and you’ll feel better.” And it really works. But in the context of prayer and intimacy with the Father it sounds more like, “Son, get thankful and then intercede for the people I’ve put on your heart.” Once I start down the road of lining up with his agenda, prayer comes alive and what’s in his heart blows everything else away…my agenda included.