Selfish Prayers

Recently I found myself praying for a solution to a transportation dilemma I am experiencing. Actually, I didn’t pray for a solution, I prayed for a car (is that selfish or what?). And I dressed the prayer in cloths of need. Let me explain.

My kids love our church, and they’ve started asking their friends to go. One friend is even joining our church family, another is becoming fairly regular. Our problem is that on some Sundays, we just don’t have enough room to transport everyone and we have to say “no.” So I found myself actually praying specifically for a 7-seater vehicle (that sounds so selfish).

But it is my belief and understanding that we can go to God with all our requests and that God wishes to know all the desires of our hearts. So that is what I did. However, I don’t think God intends for us to go to him with a need, and hem him in with our narrow-minded solution. God knows the solution to our dilemma; not I. God sees things that we can’t even imagine (see my prior post, God Cares Even for the Smallest Details, for an example).

It's not the praying for the need that's selfish - God wants to know. But it's confining God to a desired solution that I believe is selfish. So rather than ask for the miracle of a 7-seater vehicle, (because that truly would be a miracle), I instead turn the problem over to God to solve as he sees fit. Larger car? Maybe. Additional adult drivers? Who knows, but I look forward to God’s solution, not mine.