For the the praying types among you, I'd like to ask this - have you ever realised how much we say the word 'just' whenever we pray? You know the sort of thing:- Lord, I 'just' want to lift up my friend Rollo to you...
- We 'just' want to meet with you tonight, Father...
- ...and I 'just' want to pray for the international noodle eating championships taking place in our church next week...
I do it loads. I can't help it, but I think I need to break the habit.
If you think about it, it's a bit lame really. God doesn't want us 'just' praying for stuff. Each time we communicate with Him, it's like a direct hotline to the Almighty. It's not phoning up Dominos for 'just' a meatball cheese combo . No - we should be boldly going up to Him and stating our prayers with a language that is humble-yet-confident, expectant-but-reverential. OK - easier said than done, but hopefully you get my point.
I think it is one of those foibles of the western church that many people are blissfully unaware of. Perhaps there should be a campaign set up to counter the use of 'just' in prayer. Something like 'Don't 'just' do it'.
Or maybe I'm overreacting. I'm sure there are plenty more things we get wrong with prayer, but I suppose God in His infinite wisdom and grace is willing to overlook our shortcomings (He's good like that).
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Ah. I don't like that word much.
ReplyDeleteIt belittles things which shoudn't be belittled.
I try to avoid the word.
Me too - but I still do it!
ReplyDelete