"Perhaps the most basic belief underlying all of our feelings of entitlement, our 'if onlies,' and even our illusions, is the belief that life should please us, that life should be comfortable. All of our resistance to life is rooted in our wanting life to be pleasing, comfortable, and safe. When life doesn't give us what we want — the job that isn't satisfying, the relationship that isn't quite working, the body that ages and breaks down — we resist. Our resistance can manifest as anger, or fear, or self-pity, or depression, but whatever forms it takes, it blocks our ability to experience true contentment. We see our discomfort as the problem: yet it's the belief that we can't be happy if we're uncomfortable that is much more of a problem than the discomfort itself."
— Ezra Bayda in Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment"
I thought that the quote above was quite appropriate for some thoughts I have been having regarding prayer. Many of us have bemoaned the fact that children today (and I would venture adults now as well) are living with a sense of entitlement like the one so well-decribed above. I think that as Christians sometimes we feel that we are "above" such entitlement because we are grateful to God for his many blessings.
But there is a flaw in that logic. Being grateful for current blessings doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have a sense of entitlement. That's like saying that a child is happy as long as they get what they want - of course they will be happy but see what happens when you take what they want away. As it is with children so it is with adults, the real truth about entitlement comes out when you lose something. How do you respond?
Let me give you an example. A dear, sweet friend of mine was recently diagnosed with pretty aggressive cancer. She shared this with our Bible study and immediately the response was to lay hands on her in prayer and the prayers went something like this, "Jesus, please heal her. We know you can and we are believing that you will take this all away and that there will be no more cancer." Not inherently a bad prayer but believe you me the prayer that was running through my mind was more along the lines of "Dear Jesus, please grant her strength. Prove that you've got this all under control and may she feel your presence whatever happens. This may cost her her very life and please just help her know that you will be there."
Do you see the difference? I do feel compelled to point out that praying for healing is not necessarily bad but I feel that it should be tempered with an asking for God's will to be done. I also REALLY badly want my friend to be healed from her illness but I can't bring myself to pray as if that's the only option that God has. When we get bad news many times the response is to immediately pray for the badness to go away. Why is that? Because we are entitled. We believe that we have a right to be comfortable and healthy and have enough money so when struggles come our way our instinct is to pray for relief.
I don't think that it is good for our faith to always ask to be delivered from hard things. I think it is a human response and it's certainly not sinful (for even Jesus asked if the cup that had been given to Him by the Father could be removed) but as with Christ we should be asking for God's will and not our own. So think about that the next time you pray for deliverance. Have you learned the lesson God has for you in this struggle? Are you better for it? Do you believe that God will take your struggle away when and if he chooses and that whatever that may be is OK with you? Stopping the spread of entitlement starts with us - believers on our knees - praying for God's will and not ours - everyday.
— Ezra Bayda in Beyond Happiness: The Zen Way to True Contentment"
I thought that the quote above was quite appropriate for some thoughts I have been having regarding prayer. Many of us have bemoaned the fact that children today (and I would venture adults now as well) are living with a sense of entitlement like the one so well-decribed above. I think that as Christians sometimes we feel that we are "above" such entitlement because we are grateful to God for his many blessings.
But there is a flaw in that logic. Being grateful for current blessings doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have a sense of entitlement. That's like saying that a child is happy as long as they get what they want - of course they will be happy but see what happens when you take what they want away. As it is with children so it is with adults, the real truth about entitlement comes out when you lose something. How do you respond?
Let me give you an example. A dear, sweet friend of mine was recently diagnosed with pretty aggressive cancer. She shared this with our Bible study and immediately the response was to lay hands on her in prayer and the prayers went something like this, "Jesus, please heal her. We know you can and we are believing that you will take this all away and that there will be no more cancer." Not inherently a bad prayer but believe you me the prayer that was running through my mind was more along the lines of "Dear Jesus, please grant her strength. Prove that you've got this all under control and may she feel your presence whatever happens. This may cost her her very life and please just help her know that you will be there."
Do you see the difference? I do feel compelled to point out that praying for healing is not necessarily bad but I feel that it should be tempered with an asking for God's will to be done. I also REALLY badly want my friend to be healed from her illness but I can't bring myself to pray as if that's the only option that God has. When we get bad news many times the response is to immediately pray for the badness to go away. Why is that? Because we are entitled. We believe that we have a right to be comfortable and healthy and have enough money so when struggles come our way our instinct is to pray for relief.
I don't think that it is good for our faith to always ask to be delivered from hard things. I think it is a human response and it's certainly not sinful (for even Jesus asked if the cup that had been given to Him by the Father could be removed) but as with Christ we should be asking for God's will and not our own. So think about that the next time you pray for deliverance. Have you learned the lesson God has for you in this struggle? Are you better for it? Do you believe that God will take your struggle away when and if he chooses and that whatever that may be is OK with you? Stopping the spread of entitlement starts with us - believers on our knees - praying for God's will and not ours - everyday.
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