The Wish List

Matthew 6:6-8, “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”
C.S Lewis talks about a book he loved to read as a child. The book was called “ Five Children and It.” The book tells about a family of children who during a summer vacation find an ancient sand fairy who grants wishes. The fairy would grant each child a wish every day. With each wish more trouble and problems would follow the children. The problem was the children could not see the results of getting everything they ask for.
In Philippians 4:6 we are told to make our request known to God. But prayer is much more than telling God what we want Him to do for us. Jesus taught His disciples how to pray. He began by telling them, “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. (Mathew 6:8)
The Lord’s instruction about how to pray is more about living in a growing, trusting relationship with our Heavenly Father than about getting what we want from Him. Have you ever noticed most of our prayers are nothing more than a wish list of the things we want? As we grow in faith, our prayers will become less about making a wish list and more about having a conversation with the Lord. Would we be happy is we got everything we asked for? Toward the end of his life, C. S Lewis wrote, “If God had granted all the silly prayers I’ve made in my life, where should I be now?”
Just as our children ask us for things we know they only want and do not really need so then does our Heavenly Father know our hearts. Jesus made it real clear when He said, “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.”
God really likes to just have a talk with us, an intimate and personal conversation. He already knows what we really need so maybe we need to shorten our wish list and only include the things that really matter. Share with the Lord the desires of our heart and not our heads. Do you start and end you day with a prayer or do you only talk to God only when you are in trouble. Do you thank Him for His goodness and for the wonders all around? Do you do all the talking or do you listen to hear the answer? Many years ago I heard a Sunday school teacher tell her class “when your mouth is open your ears are closed. If you are talking Jesus can’t talk to you.” Sound advice don’t you think?
Our highest privilege is to talk to God; out highest duty is to listen to Him.