Carson on Prayer

As I continue to study the prayers of Paul, I continue to be struck with how much my christian life is concerned with the worries of the day and not with the coming of the Kingdom. D.A. Carson succinctly summarizes the reality in my own life. Does this apply to you as well?

"To restrict ourselves for a moment to the petitions in the prayers of Paul, we must ask ourselves how far the petitions we commonly present to God are in line with what Paul prays for. Suppose, for example, that 80 or 90 percent of our petitions ask God for good health, recovery from illness, safety on the road, a good job, success in exams, the emotional needs of our children, success in our mortgage application, and much more of the same. How much of Paul's praying revolves around equivalent items? If the center of our praying is far removed from the center of Paul's praying, then even our very praying may serve as a wretched testimony to the remarkable success of the processes of paganization in our life and thought."

from A call to spiritual reformation, pg. 96-97.

What is the solution out of our predicament? It is the Word of God, the living Word of God - Jesus Christ - whom we need more and more, and whom we can learn about and experience and draw near to in the Holy Bible. We need Jesus to conform our lives to his life as revealed in the Bible. And that is going to take more time in Scripture and a willingness to repent when our life is at odds with the life of Christ revealed there.