Lent day 14

In Timothy Keller’s book Prayer, he talks about how we should start off our prayers with praising and thanking God for who He is and what He has done in our lives.

This has sometimes been a hard thing for me. For one thing, at times, it’s been a hard thing for me to see the good in my life. I have struggled to see anything for thanking Him for at times and have really only used prayer as an answering service for my petitions to God.

Keller points out that the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, starts off with praising God and calling Him holy. It is only then that we begin to rightly ask for the things in our lives.

I don’t believe that if you aren’t praying “correctly” that God won’t hear your prayer and that He won’t be able to answer your prayer.

I believe that God can and does answer our prayers even if we are just crying out to Him for help.

Keller says that it has more to do with the orientation of our heart and our life. If we come to God with praise and thanksgiving first, we will see how great He is and all of the things that He has already done in our lives.

Then as we begin to place our burdens at His feet, we will see and understand that He is able to help us with these things and that we need not worry so much about them.

Also, Keller says that through rightly ordering our loves and desires with God first is the only true way to best love the other things in our lives.

I can only love my wife and kids best, if I have placed God first in my life and have shown Him the love and respect that He is worthy of.

Then out of the overflow of my love for Him, my family will be blessed with my love.