"Misuse of Prayer"

From Ole Hallesby's book titled Prayer, copyright 1931 --

"From the very beginning we approach prayer with a grave misconception. Our selfishness knows no bounds. In more or less naive self-love we look upon everything in our environment with which we come in contact as our agencies, as things which exist for our sakes, as something for us to make use of and utilize to our own advantage. We think and act as though everything, inanimate things, plants, animals, human beings, even our own souls, were created for the purpose of bringing gratification to our selfish desires.

"And we make no exception of God.

"As soon as we encounter Him, we immediately look upon Him as another means of gaining our own ends."

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Hallesby notes that our prayers tend to become a long list of 'what I want God to do for me.'

He goes on to cite Matt 20:20-23 and the request made by the mother of James and John as "a typical example of misunderstood, misused, and unanswered prayer."

But, Hallesby points out, although the other apostles were indignant in the face of this wrong kind of request, Jesus was not offended. Jesus gently said no and offered teaching and improved understanding.

I suspect that I very often pray for wrong things, with wrong attitudes. I know that I don't have the mind of Christ, and I suffer from a limited, self-centered view of the world.

For those reasons, I am comforted by Hallesby's contention that when I fail to pray appropriately, Jesus is not angry or offended.

I welcome His continued instruction and patient reshaping of my prayer life.