Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Praying for Myself vs. for Others

Most of my prayers are for others. I don’t mean that I never pray for things like getting out of debt, or for a moment to myself, or things like that. But I always end up feeling selfish when I do.

I love praying for others. There are so many times in my life when people I know and love, or even those who are just acquaintances, need help. Most of those times, I can do nothing physical to help them. When I pray for them, for their needs, for strength, I feel as though I am at least doing something to help. It’s a soothing feeling. Most times, they will never know I prayed. That’s fine with me. I do it because I need to help.

As for myself, I’ve long gone past the stage when I just pray a “gimme.” You know what I mean - “Please God, gimme a better car.” “Please Dear Lord, gimme some new shoes.” I’ve developed a habit of asking, instead, for the ability to see what he wants for me. I ask for strength to wait for his timing and solution, not mine. It is not easy to do this. Human nature has a strong streak of selfishness in it. For some, like me, it takes almost a lifetime to learn how to counteract it.

Please Lord, help me to hear your replies and open my eyes to see your solutions.

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