Do you have an Amazon wish list? I do, it’s full of books, music and films that I would like to have. It’s a digital shopping list for me to waste money on. It is part of human nature; to consume. We eat, we breathe and now we shop. Western society is built on consumerism. It is a shame that so often our prayer life reflects this.
Just like society, prayer can become a shopping list. All that we utter in this divine conversation is a list of things we would like God to sort out. This is illustrated no better than in the film Bruce Almighty.God hands over the running of the world to Bruce, who then has to deal with the billions of prayer requests, with catastrophic results.
However, when the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, Jesus taught them, the Lord’s Prayer. This is recorded in Luke 11:1-13, and is the Gospel reading in the Lectionary this weekend.
The structure of the prayer in Luke is a little different to a shopping list prayer. It begins with God, and God’s holiness. Followed by a call for God’s Kingdom. We do get a section for our needs, but they are for our needs and not our wants. Forgiveness is next, and not just ours, but others. Finally the call to keep us from temptation, is a call for our own holiness. As the prayer begins with God’s holiness, it closes with our own.
Luke illustrates the prayer structure with more words from Jesus. We get some practical examples and, it appears that prayer can be a little like a shopping list. However, the illustration finishes with the Father giving the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit can change us and bring us closer to God.
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Now I think it’s time to pray about my holiness and remove some of the items from my Amazon wish list. However, not all wish lists are bad. Did you know that The Seed has its very own Library feature that can used just like a wish list? You can find out more in this article.
