johnmdemarco posted on January 28, 2011 19:28
Today I sat in a small chapel located in downtown Nashville, a few minutes early for a networking meeting. My journal in my lap, I started to scribble a prayer I said plenty of times several years ago that has recently resurfaced during my moments of reflection:
“God, please use your best gifts in me for your best purposes…so that I can best take care of my family.”
Before I could write out the part that began with “so,” however, I was struck—and nearly laughed out loud—at the absurdity of that last phrase. I had never realized its combination of irony and redundancy.
Irony, because I’m asking God to decide what his best gifts and purposes are…while then placing a condition upon their use. Redundant, because God’s use of his best gifts in someone for his best purposes is necessarily the best way anyone can take care of anyone and anything.
So often in prayer we plead, bargain, cajole and even dictate. It’s a strange custom, the rationalization and justification of it all, and visitors from other planets would love to capture some of it on their own version of YouTube, I am certain. To sit in God’s presence and pour out your simple needs before him is a whole other matter than trying to negotiate when you have no ace up your sleeve.
I stopped the written prayer with “purposes.” And will leave the spoken version in the same manner.