Prayer Changes Us

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I found this quote probably about a month or so ago and knew immediately that I wanted to make it into a weekend links image. I’ve had a rocky relationship with prayer over the years and it remains that way, but I think this quote gets to the heart of why I have such a hard time with it. I often treat God like He’s some kind of intergalactic genie, only there to respond to my requests and make my every wish come true. If He’s not answering my prayer in the way that I want Him to, then why bother? Why even ask? But as with any relationship, it’s not just about the message or request or whatever the specific piece of communication happens to be, it’s more about the relationship that goes along with it. It’s not so much that the relationship needs to be healthy in order to get what I want (because I don’t think He works that way), but instead that the relationship needs to be healthy. Period. End of sentence. The relationship can’t be healthy if all I’m doing is sending Him a collect call every so often asking Him for laundry money.

And so maybe the point of prayer isn’t to get what I want, but instead to change me. To make me into more of the person He designed me to be. Honestly, I am FAR from that person, which is probably a direct reflection of the state of my prayer life.

Today’s Good Morning Girls (which I am absolutely loving!) reading fits really well with this…

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. Philippians 4:6-7 (MSG)

I would love to get to the point where every thought that comes into my mind is somehow offered up to God. This actually reminds me of an old SNL skit where a woman is going about her day and doing things like heating something up in the microwave and she prays about it all. Then suddenly Jesus comes walking through her door and tells her that He’s kind of getting overwhelmed with hearing from her and she doesn’t really need to tell Him everything….only the really important stuff.

I’m so thankful He doesn’t really work like that.