2/23/2004 06:40:00 PM|||Andrew|||As I was walking back to my car tonight, I started thinking about something that's been going on in my life, and I started to pray about it. It was a selfish prayer, really. It wasn't "give me what I want God," but more "tell me what I want to know God," which, to be honest, is just as bad. But I didn't get very far at all, because as I started to pray, God stopped me in my tracks. And a realization of my misplaced priorities swept over me. I remembered that the first element of prayer, as demonstrated so beautifully by Jesus in his example prayer to the Apostles, is to acknowledge and glorify Him for who He is.

And so I started over, this time beginning with affirmations of God's goodness to me through the past and in the present, through the hurt and through the joy. And my prayers flowed out of my mouth straight to God so naturally and effortlessly that it was amazing. It certainly isn't difficult to find something to praise and honor God about. Then, interestingly, I got back around to this very issue that was troubling me in the first place, only this time my attitude was so completely different. Instead of asking God for something, I submitted the situation and myself to him, affirming his goodness and blessing, and asking only that he would honor and glorify himself through the situation.

I think one thing that came to me during all this was the old adage, "To Know God and make Him Known" It seems to me that this phrase really does hit the mark very well when it comes to the priorities of the Christian's life. The first thing, the most important thing for any follower of Christ is to always be searching, to always be yearning for more Knowledge of God and of Christ. And when I say knowledge I mean, of course, a real knowledge, a knowledge bound together by reason but ultimately grounded in experience and relationship. The second thing is to take this God whom we know, and to expound him to the world, to preach his name to all the earth. To seek his increased glory and honor. If we do not first know him, how can we make him known to others? And if we do not make him known, then we cheat ourselves of the greatest call of God and do not truly know him at all.

Sobering thoughts for me. And while I may have prayed rightly tonight, I will doubtlessly fail many a time. I hope that this can be of some encouragement and uplifting to all who read it. |||107759040612789686|||