It's Not About You

alone

Scripture Reading: Luke 11:1-13

To me, nothing is more tedious than myself. If our prayers are always only about nothing bigger than our little world and our own needs, then we are going to become bored with praying and disinterested in doing so.

We should pray for our own needs. We are told to “cast all our cares upon Him,” and we are to live as children who are dependent on their loving Heavenly Father to meet all our needs. But we must not leave it at that. Our circle of prayer concerns must become bigger. We need to have more on our hearts than our needs and concerns.

That is evident in The Lord’s Prayer and in the story Jesus tells to illustrate prayer in Luke 11. First, in The Lord’s Prayer, the pronouns are plural, not singular. It is “us,” and “our” not “me” and “mine.” Then, in the story of the three friends, the friend that represents the praying person is seeking bread, not for himself, but for a friend who has come to his home while on a long journey. This man persistent pesters the friend who has the bread (God) until he gets what he needs to provide food for his hungry friend.

Therefore, it is accurate to say that the man who is persistent in his prayers -who is asking, seeking, and knocking – is doing so for someone else and not for himself. Again, it is right to pray about your personal needs. But you must make a lot of room to include the needs of others.

One way you can do that is to create a method or a system of praying that makes certain you are praying for others. I like to use a method I learned years ago that is based on the days of the week:

Monday – Missionaries and Missions

Tuesday – Tasks or work that needs to be done (personal, church, family life)

Wednesday – Workers or people I know that serve in various roles in the church.

Thursday – Thanksgiving, just focusing on being grateful.

Friday – Family. While I pray daily for family, Friday becomes a day of special focus on them and their needs.

Saturday – Sinners. People who need the Lord.

Sunday – Saints. This includes anyone I know who has special needs that I can pray for them about.

Another suggestion is to keep a prayer list. I started using an app on my phone because it is convenient. There are several available. I don’t know if one is better than another. The one I use is fine. I could probably do the same thing with my “notes” app that came on the phone, but the separate prayer app helps me keep it organized better.

What kinds of things have you found helpful to your prayer life? Feel free to share that in the comments.