This was the meal prayer prior to a business lunch with a group of about 50 business professionals that I attended.
The man that was scheduled to pray is not religious and not a Christian, per his own introduction prior to his prayer.
His intent was to accomplish the task he was asked to do and to be humorous, so I think, since I can’t judge his motives completely.
I’m not offended, hurt or angered, but I’m disappointed, not in him, but in the overall direction of our country to make God a casual being with causal references.
Should this be the case in our society?
Call me a conservative, or a Bible-thumper, or a legalist, or any other term that you like, but it seems to me that this prayer is an example of how we have minimized God today. We have made Him a buddy, a pal, a teammate, a coworker, or something else less than what He is.
He is…
The Creator!
The Savior!
The Provider!
The Comforter!
The Truth!
The Life!
The Way!
This list could go on forever, because God’s character covers the entire gamut of all possible perfect qualities that exist.
So, what does this mean to me?
Shouldn't I be treating Him with greater respect than a casual prayer?
I’m positive that He deserves every possible ounce of respect, that me, as a meager human, can possibly muster. I need to give Him all the honor, that I can, since he deserves it.
The amazing thing to add to this, is that, even though He deserves it, He still puts up with my frail, feeble and failing nature, as I try to honor Him like I should. He puts up with my attempts to honor Him and then He honors me back, in ways I could not even think possible. He is beyond good to me, He’s great to me! He loves me with all my failures - I’m not sure why, but I’m so glad He does.
The other amazing thing, to me, is that He allows me to share my hurts, failures, pains, complaints and every other aspect of me day and life, with him. He listens to me when I need someone to hear me, even if I don’t cry out to Him with the proper nomenclature, or my words are not in the proper order, or with correct grammar. He just listens to my needs and takes care of me. He just keeps loving me, no matter my weaknesses, or how I treat Him.
Even though I think that prayer may not have been the best, God still loves the one who prayed it, and He loves you and me too!
Lessons Learned: Don’t treat God casually - He deserves so much more.
Thoughts: Have you ever realized that you’re talking to the Creator of the universe, when you pray?
#failalot
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Craig, Great thoughts today. I think it can become so easy to fall into a pattern (or rut) in our prayers. "Dear God, thank you for the day. Thank you for the food. Give us strength for the day. Help so and so. Amen." Wash, rinse, repeat. God's Word tells us that His mercies are new every morning. (Lamentations 3) Surely, we can be more creative and thoughtful in approaching the God of the universe.
ReplyDeleteJon - you're so right - we are often stuck in the repeat mode. It makes me think about our friendships, family members and coworkers - do we just repeat the same things to them everyday?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment and for reading.