The Value Of Praying For The Right Results

Good morning and welcome to our daily walk!

Audio version at http://tinyurl.com/36uvgo

This devotional by Justin Morton

A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Bible class. As she ran she prayed, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord, please don't let me be late!" As she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again. As she ran she once again began to pray, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late...but don't shove me either."

This story, although cute, reminds me of the way many people today value prayer. When most people pray, they pray for the things that they desire. Individuals pray for the results that they want, and sometimes these results are not the right results. It is of great value for us to learn that when we pray, we need to be praying for the right results.

Hannah is a great example of praying for the right results. When the story of Hannah begins, we see how she is a woman who has no children. Her husband’s other wife has children, so Hannah is constantly provoked by her rival (I Sam. 1:1-6). To have no children in this day and time was a social disgrace. People viewed those who were barren as cursed by God. So Hannah turns to the only source she thinks can help, God. She begins praying a prayer for God to give her a son (1 Sam. 1:10-11).

At first, this prayer may seem a little selfish to most people. Hannah is a woman who is praying a prayer for God to give her something her heart desires. She wants a son so badly that she prays for him. Now, I am sure that most of us have done exactly what Hannah is doing. We have all found ourselves in situations where we wanted something so badly that we prayed for God to give it to us. Maybe you were praying for God to bless you with a child. Perhaps you were praying for God to help you get a big promotion. You may even have been praying for God to help you do something that really wasn’t important.

We have all prayed prayers like the little girl who prayed, “Dear Lord, don’t let me be late!” When we pray we must make sure that we are praying prayers with the right end in mind. Was Hannah’s prayer really selfish or was her heartfelt request something more? As we continue reading the story of Hannah, we begin to see that her prayer was not a selfish prayer but a prayer that followed with a sacrificial vow. Yes, she wanted a son. Yes, she asked God to grant her this request. In the end though, we see that Hannah’s prayer was a prayer that had the right results in mind. Hannah didn’t pray for a child for herself but a child for God.

Hannah made a vow to God that if He would grant her petition that she would in return give the child back to the Lord all the days of his life. In the end, that’s exactly what she did. She gave her son, Samuel, back to the Lord just as she had promised. Hannah was faithful to the vow that she made. She truly understood the value of praying for the right results.

What about you? When you pray do you pray selfish prayers or do you pray with the right result in mind? You may be wondering, “What does he mean ‘praying with the right result in mind’?” Helga Bergold Gross once said, “What we usually pray to God is not that His will be done, but that He approve ours.” Jesus understood this concept when He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done” (Lk. 22:42). Praying with the right result in mind means that we pray for God’s will to be done in all things and for Him to be glorified. Yes, Hannah prayed for a son, but, in the end, she was praying for God to give her a child who she could train and give back to Him for His glory.

It is my hope and prayer that you will be a person who understands the value of praying for the right results. Be sure you always pray, “Father, not my will, but yours be done.”

Thought for the day: “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for power equal to your tasks.”

- Phillip Brooks

May God bless you in your daily walk!