Drive-Thru Jesus

"Yeah, I'll have a better job, please. Happy family on the side. An order of good health. Better make that five orders. Do you have any World Peace?"

"There's gonna be a wait on the World Peace."

"Hmm. Nevermind. Just the other stuff then. Thanks."

How's your prayer life? What is prayer? What's it for? Is it just a time when we ask God for the things we want or need, the Almighty sitting patiently at the window, pen and order pad in hand? Or is there more to it? I'll be honest: sometimes, my own prayer life can feel more like I'm sitting at a drive-thru, just telling God what I need, with an "Oh, thanks," thrown in for good measure.

Maybe, if we're feeling super-pious, we'll throw the word "Lord" into our wish list a few hundred times, just to make sure He knows we're talking to Him.

Is this you, too?

Don't be embarrassed. This is part of our very real humanness. This is part of what we slowly overcome as we turn our lives over, bit by bit, to the Lordship of Christ. As we get to know Him better, as we get to know ourselves better, we learn how to trust Him. We learn that trusting ourselves, going after our wants and perceived needs, is what got mankind into this whole mess in the first place.

We learn that His will -- and not our own -- is what we truly need in our lives. If you want to enrich your prayer life, take that earlier scenario -- that whole drive-thru thing -- and reverse the roles. Put yourself in the position of listener, and God in the role of the one with the orders.

Maybe that's why Jesus, in teaching us how to pray, has us begin by recognizing God's true place:

In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name. (Matthew 6:9)

Just Because I Forgive You Doesn't Mean I Like You Very Much

Weird thing about Christianity: when it comes down to it, nearly every aspect of the Faith has forgiveness as a starting point. For the past several weeks,  no matter what the topic of conversation, be it in church or small groups, or even at work, the talk always circled back, somehow, to the issue of forgiveness.

I may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but at some point, it occurred to me that God might just be trying to send me a message.

by Mike Walters, borrowed from Strictly Gospel

See, I'm not generally one to hold a grudge -- so long as I'm the only one who's been hurt. When my family has been wounded, however, that's a different story entirely. The anger turns into this little ball that settles down into the pit of my stomach and I tell myself I don't need to forgive this person or that,  because they haven't asked me personally. Never mind that, number one, I wasn't the person they hurt and so, two, they have no idea they need to ask my forgiveness. If I can justify my grudge,  why on earth would I reach out -- regardless of whether the person who was actually hurt has forgiven.

At some point, though, this argument breaks down, even for me. So, grudgingly,  I "forgive" them. At least, I tell God I did, and just for good measure, I tell myself, too. But,  I am always sure to remind myself, that doesn't mean I have to give them access to my life. That doesn't mean I have to actually like them. Right?

Except.

If I decide I don't "like" somebody, based entirely upon an act I've supposedly forgiven,  is that really forgiveness?

What if Jesus were to say, "You know, I forgive you of your trespasses against Me, but I'm really not interested in having you in My House?" Could we consider ourselves forgiven,  when the end result is the same as condemnation?

There's a part of the Lord's Prayer that honestly scares me a little. "Forgive us our debts," Jesus asks, "as we forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12)."

What if God actually did forgive us as -- the same way -- we forgave others?