Friday, June 15, 2012

A Little Secret

You guys.

I have a secret.

I don't think I'm praying correctly. I don't know if you're allowed to say this if you're in seminary, but it's the truth.

Here's the issue. I have prayer guilt. This means that I feel guilty praying for myself, so I never do. Also, when it's time to hear prayer requests in a group setting, I normally am ready to go. I have TONS of prayer requests. Then I hear of someone who's lost their job, someone who has a family member with cancer, or a story of a sick child. The guilt comes rushing in and I think "umm, loser, keep your stupid prayer request to yourself. No one wants to hear about your stupid issue. These people have real problems. Just keep your mouth shut." And that's how it goes down. I'm pretty sure that's not how I'm supposed to feel. I don't think God meant for prayer to come with overwhelming amounts of guilt.
“Christians should confess that we have often misunderstood the kingdom of God. We have been guilty sometimes of trying to force the kingdom of God into history. Sometimes we have tended to equate the kingdom of God with a particular national system or a particular religious culture. This we confess to be a tragic perversion of our calling as Christians, and we should repent.”