Pastor Joynt's Devotionals

Quetions Week 11 Day 3

MARK 10:35-45

All kinds of things distort our prayers. Ego concerns, for instance, of the kind that impacted James and John, who should have been praying for courage to face coming trials and instead prayed for positional precedence. Hard and fast ideas about the way God must act misalign our prayers and requests, as when Peter tried to deflect Jesus from moving toward the cross. As I age, part of my small store of wisdom is a deep sense that my viewpoint on things is partial, and that it is shaped by age and culture and self-interest and the limits of my own faith and reason.

Prayer is largely about discovering God’s will rather than shaping it! It is about aligning our desires and values with His, not simply getting outcomes which we want or think necessary.

How much time do you spend listening when you pray?

FAMILY TIME—

Encourage your family members to try silent time in their prayers.

Have them write down anything God tells them.

Questions Week 11 Day 2

MATTHEW 6:9-10

As we continue yesterday’s theme on the motivation and purpose of prayer, let’s take a closer look at the Lord’s Prayer. If we look at the beginning of the prayer, we will see that two more elements of prayer, beside petition, are implied. One of these we might call alignment. The question about unanswered prayer seems to put God in the dock, accused of ignoring or refusing to respond to legitimate requests. But when we pray, we come humbly into the presence of a God who is all-knowing, and we bring a severely limited point of view. We must pray that “God’s will” be done and “God’s kingdom” come.  It is earth that is out of sync with heaven, and our perspective is impacted by this divergence.

What limits and distorts our requests?

FAMILY TIME—

What do we typically pray for?

What don’t we pray for?