Prayers for what's important

You've probably never heard of Eric Metaxas.  I heard an interview with him the other day about this speech, which he delivered at the National Prayer Breakfast last week, preceding President Obama.  It's a great speech about the nature of prayer and faith, and the contrast between those and false religiosity of the kind Jesus condemned in the Pharisees during His ministry.  If you've got 20 minutes, watch the whole thing. (Metaxas starts 35 minutes in.)



In his interview on the radio, Metaxas described his preparation for the speech, which was the biggest of his life.  Metaxas is an author of some note, but hardly a celebrity, and certainly not used to opening for the President of the United States.

Metaxas talked about his prayers prior to the speech.  He prayed that the Lord would speak through him the words He wanted said.  It was a real "Thy will be done" attitude.  I'd imagine it takes a lot of faith to turn it all over to the Lord at an event like this.

I've had moments like that in some sense.  I've never spoken at an event with POTUS, but in my own life some events are more important than others.  I think of my first debate when I was 18 and running for city council in Foster City.  There have been times when I've known that people I love need and I knew would ask for blessings.  At times like that I pray hard and a lot that the Spirit will be with me, and I make sure that nothing in my own life stands in the way.

But at times that are less important, I'm not as prayerful, and sin tends to creep in, since I'm not so focused on it.  But, why aren't I?  What seems important to me at those times I know is different than what's important to the Lord.  There's nothing more important to Him than my ultimate happiness and my achieving Eternal Life.  That's his whole work (Moses 1:39).  Not just mine, of course, but yours, too.

If we are truly about living by His will, we'll take same level of faith and reliance on the Lord for what we think is important and put it into what He thinks is important, namely us.  We should pray for ourselves (and for others) as though we're most important, because we are to Him.

I think that takes a special kind of oxymoronic thinking.  We have to realize that we are so important to the Lord that we are entitled to that level of blessings, but also that we're so dependent on Him that we must put the highest level of faith and humility into our prayers every day.