Way To Pray, People!

Good Monday, as the sun rises through the orange haze. Yesterday, the pastor called for us to pray for rain to heal our parched land and bring some relief from the heat. We prayed and the rains came yesterday evening. Good job praying! Give yourselves a pat on the back... wait, what is wrong with this picture? When we make a request in prayer, we do not complete the action. I can no more make it rain with prayer than a witch doctor with his rattles and chants. The credit goes to the one who answered the prayer, not the one who made the request. We made the request to God who causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust. The good response is in the rain and the glory is due the responder, and not the humble supplicant. I am grateful for the opportunity to pray for rain, but I cannot make it rain by prayer. When the rain arrives in response to prayer, I cannot claim that my great faith made it rain. My faith often wobbles and falls down. When faith produces a response to prayer, it is because my faith was placed in the hands of a great God.

It is too easy to give ourselves the credit when a prayer is answered in place of giving God what is due Him when He chooses to answer our prayers. The proper response is one of thanksgiving to God, not a pat on the back for those who made the request. In a restaurant, we give our compliments to the chef for a wonderful meal. We would not give a compliment to ourselves for choosing well from the menu or for coming into the restaurant at just this time and place. If the service is well performed, we tip the one who did the table waiting. What would you think of the one who, in place of a gratuity, patted himself on the back for sitting in his chair properly? How easily we fall to the temptation to grab a little glory for ourselves in prayer. The pastor issues the call, we make the request to God, and the rains come. Then the tempting thought comes, "Good job on that prayer! Look what I did! Praise me!"

Forgive us, Lord, for failing to give you the glory. Please lead us away from the temptation and deception of the evil one. Thank you for answering our prayers. Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful rain last night. Thank you for loving us and providing for us. To you, dear Lord, be the glory and honor. Amen.

Bucky