Prayer: Benefiting God's Kingdom

Why is that I always think of my prayer requests of as a “laundry list” of my wants?  It seems that these requests are more about me than they are about God.  They seem to be about what I think is best for the situation.  For me there is a similar feeling when I pray for others.  It often becomes a “laundry list” of what I want for those I am praying for.  It just does not seem very genuine because it does not take into account the relational aspect of God nor does it take into account God’s will.  I am not saying that praying for ourselves and others is in anyway bad.  In fact I think it is an essential aspect of prayer.

Recently, I attended a worship service at Presbyterian Church of the Way in Shoreview, MN.  The focus of the worship service was the twofold.  First, the members of a recent mission trip to Ghana were sharing their stories, reflections and insights.  Second, their reflections centered around the Scripture The Armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-20).  One member of this trip was reflecting prayer in Ghana.  She said the prayers of the Ghanian people focus on how they hope their requests will better God’s Kingdom.  As I pondered this statement I realized this shift in the intent of our supplications or requests completely change the focus of prayer.  

This shift reflects the intentions rather than the content of our prayers.  The “laundry list” may still be there but we pray the “list” with a different intent.  The intent is no longer to ask for what we want or need because it will benefit us.  Rather, prayer now focuses on how our requests will effect the world and others in a positive and just way.  Our prayers for ourselves become about uncovering our authentic selves and how we will speak our truth in love.  

For me the key word in the above statement is hope.  We are not God and thus do not and cannot know what is best for the God’s Kingdom here on earth.  Our prayer requests do not dictate what will happen instead they convey what we expect or desire to occur.  Our “laundry lists” are not demands of God but rather statements of what we hope God will do to to better God’s Kingdom!