CARE IN WHAT YOU PRAY FOR
Romans
8:26-27
The
Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but
the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express… the
Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Sometimes we think of prayer
as a way to get my will done. No. Prayer is a means of getting His will done.
And let’s not forget: getting his will done is precisely the best thing that
can ever happen to us! It isn’t best for me to get my will done. What will
bring me the very highest, greatest, most supreme joy is to get his will done.
The story is told of a wealthy woman whose small boy was
a brat, very spoiled. A teenage girl was caring for the little guy one
afternoon, while the mother was busy in another part of the house.
A wasp flew into the room
and the boy saw its brilliant colors. He began calling, “I want it! I want it!”
The mother, not knowing what he meant, called from the other room, “Let the boy
have what he wants. Let him have it!” The baby-sitter complied. She let him have
it.
Soon the wealthy mother heard a loud, anguished scream.
She called out, “What’s the matter?” The girl simply answered, “He got what he
wanted.”
Often God doesn’t give us what we want. But he always
gives us what is best for us. Perhaps we ask God for something that obviously
is not good for us. We ask him for something ridiculous and then we tack on the
pious phrase, “if it be your will”. Remember, prayer is not getting my will
done, but rather getting God’s will done.
Pocket Prayers, By Robert C. Savage, pg. 46.
