Unanswered spoiled child prayer – Sometimes we think we want things but find out we really wanted the Lord’s presence more than those things. We do foolish and childish things when we are feeling invisible.
Too often it takes time and maturity to come to that rightful conclusion – to admitting that secondary things have climbed up to first place in our lives. Crabb shares some stages of whining, gimme and sit-on-Santa’s lap and ask for stuff stages of prayer life, and some nitty-gritty changes when prayer changes from petition first (for those secondary things) to repentance and honest worship.
I think most parents and grandparents have at times felt ‘invisible’ – invisible unless someone wanted something. As I think over those times in my life, I wonder if my behavior toward God has been any different.
Some thought provoking questions in chapter seven painfully twist the focus off of self and rebend it upward, to Christ. Questions and prayers that make me wonder: have I wanted God’s resources more than I’ve wanted Him? Have I been so intent on filling up my emptiness through others or through things that I’ve been focusing on protecting and promoting myself and my agenda (my kingdom) instead of the Kingdom of God?
Rather than a prayer to make one powerful and visible, it is just the opposite that is suggested – becoming more invisible and focusing on abiding IN Christ and praying obediently with trust and humility. This chapter (7) focuses on following Jesus’ example of prayer – “The Lord’s Prayer”.
The portions that most spoke to me were, first of all, the reminder of Jesus response to the temptation of the enemy after his forty-day fast. “Of course He wanted a good meal after a 40-day fast, but not if it would distance Him one inch from His Father.” That can only be my response if I am fed at The Lord’s Table, for then only will I long for Christ alone - nothing else.
Secondly, even in Gethsemane, Jesus trusted His Father completely. He looked to nothing else and no one else. In Christ’s examples, His relationship with God preceded any petition.
The concluding point of Chapter 7: “Getting God is worth infinitely more than getting the things we want from God.”
It has been difficult cooking seafood for dinner as Ken is allergic and we prefer having dinner together, so I am going to switch the meal order.
I therefore shared the pasty and after he left the kitchen, I baked some fish and had that instead. I will try switching the protein to lunch when I have fish, and keep the protein at dinner when I have chicken. Hopefully that will solve the dilemma and allow for dinner together.
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