30 Days of Prayer
Are my prayers selfish? This is not a question that most of us ask ourselves or even think about. My church has recently been participating in a 30 days of prayer journey together. For one month, we are challenged to pray for 30 minutes a day for 30 days for others. We receive a daily devotional each day that helps to give us a focus for that time of prayer.
We’re just over the half way point in the 30 Days of Prayer journey when I’m writing this, but it didn’t take me long to realize that there have been many times where my prayers were selfish. At this point I’ve already prayed for: people who do not know Christ, family members, the body of Christ, and those that are persecuted and killed because of their faith.
Are My Prayers Selfish
So, how do we know if we have selfish prayers? Here are three ways to tell if our prayers are selfish.
1. You do all the talking.
Prayer at its core is communicating with God. It’s having a conversation with God. In this case we are talking to God, who is all knowing and all powerful. Yet it amazes me that when I’m having my prayer time, how much of the time I spend doing all the talking and not listening. Prayer is just as much talking as it is listening.
James 5:16(KJV)
Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
This is the scripture that started our 30 Days of Prayer focus. We as Christians are instructed to pray for one another. Prayer for others can bring healing.
2. You Are Distracted.
I can say from my own experience, that there have been times where I have sat down to pray and as soon as I get started, I have a random thought about something I need to do later. Which leads to another thought and another. Before I know it, I’ve spent my prayer time not focused and thinking about everything else in my day instead of God.
[ctt template=”8″ link=”95W8C” via=”no” ]Distracted prayers are not answered prayers[/ctt]Most people can relate to what it’s like to have a conversation with a person who is distracted. We all can tell when we are talking to a someone who is not focused on us. Most of us probably wouldn’t stand for that, so why do we treat God the same way. We want God to answer our prayers and accept our distracted time with Him.
3. You Pray ONLY for Your Desires.
How many times have we gone to God in prayer, only to have it turn into a time of running down the list of things that we want or need? Tied with the previous two points, this type of prayer says that we’re too selfish to think of anything or anyone other than ourselves when it comes to prayer. The relationships that God places in our lives are for a purpose and our purpose in that relationship most importantly is to pray.
Our prayers become all about us and what we want. We shouldn’t treat God like a genie, where we just want our wishes granted. God wants to be in a relationship with us. He desires to be a part of our everyday life. This week let’s focus on praying for others.
Romans 12:1-2(MSG)
12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
