Be Careful How You Pray

Have you ever considered what your life would be like if God answered every prayer you prayed with a positive response? You and I often pray with little thought to the full consequences of a positive answer. We do not know what tomorrow holds much less a few weeks, months, or years in the future.

As a teenager, I heard a sermon on prayer. Our preacher said that God answers prayer as "Yes," "No," or "Not Yet." He went on to say that a "Yes" answer may come with some revisions. He also reminded us that "No" is answered prayer.

In 2014, Lifeway Research, a division of the Southern Baptist Convention, conducted an online survey that asked 1,137 Americans about their frequency and content of their prayers. Here are a few of the results:

• 83% of those surveyed say they pray (how often varied greatly - occasionally, daily, multiple times in a day)

• 74% focused their prayers primarily on their friends, family, or their own problems

• 25% said all their prayers were answered; 37% said some of their prayers are answered; 3% said none of their prayers are answered; and 14% didn't know if their prayers are answered

• 12% prayed for government officials; 5% for celebrities; 7% for a parking spot; 7% to avoid a speeding ticket; 13% for a sports team; and 21% to win the lottery

*Selected Results from Lifeway Research Survey - Aug. 7, 2014*

Based on the survey mentioned above, our content in prayer varies greatly with one exception - most often we pray for ourselves or those close to us. Reading prayer lists from churches, small groups, or Sunday School classes, my observation is that the requests we share with others most often involve health, jobs, or children. What seems to be missing in the limited statistics from the survey and from my observations is that we seldom pray for the lost by name or for those needs that only God can meet.

Today, our nation seems most concerned about what either government officials are doing or are not doing. When the people of Israel turned to Samuel and demanded that a king be named to rule over Israel like all the other nations had, Samuel felt that the people had rejected him. When Samuel prayed to God, the Lord told Samuel that the people had not rejected Samuel, but rather they had rejected God. God told Samuel to appoint a king and let the people see what resulted.

Too often we pray that someone will fix our problems. What we forget is that the only one who can truly make a difference in our lives and in our world is the one the Bible gives the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I imagine that most of my praying is like most of yours. We focus on ourselves. God does answer our prayers. If we want some "Yes" answers, we need to pray regarding the real needs and our place in them. The passage in

2 Chronicles 7:14 needs to be heeded as much today as at any time in history.

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves,

and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and

heal their land."

The Lord wants to answer our prayers regarding our nation, our world, and the people who populate this planet, but the scripture has placed a condition from God upon us. As we pray today and this week, do we come to God as those who are humble (we need His intervention because without Him, we are weak and unable), who seek Him (not just His gifts but His presence), and confessing and repenting of our sins (being done with them - turning away from them without regret, ready to obey and serve God alone), that He might forgive us and provide the healing that is needed (that He sees far more clearly than you or I do)?

May He see us and hear us as the people He has called us and saved us to be.