"When we prayed to win the lottery, do we ever consider the untold numbers who will therefore not win.? Do we think about all those other folks, many of whom are in dire straits, unemployed, maybe with hungry kids? Do our prayers naturally drift to other people for whom a winning ticket would be a way out of poverty, abuse, or oppression? I am not just talking about a little lottery here, since so many of our prayers are an appeal for luck.
When we pray for our kids to make the basketball team or be accepted to a certain College, do we ever think of the other kids who will be left out if God fulfills our prayers?
How about when we pray for our church to grow? Do our prayers, be they private or from the pulpit, include remorse and regret regret for all the small churches that will need to close their doors to make way for another Urban mega church? The statistics are indisputable, churches grow because other churches shrink or close. Do our prayers include them?
My prayers are dominated by me and my people. Do I pray for other countries to succeed or just my country? Do I take into compassionate consideration that many, many other countries are filled with poverty, famine, and epidemics that would make our poorest neighborhoods look like paradise? Do we pray for the success of our neighbors across the globe?
How about when we pray for our soldiers? Do our appeals drift to the soldiers on the other side, for their safety and spared life? How about their families?
In the end, I believe that most of us are narcissists when it comes to our God-imaginations. God is at the game table, and we believe he should be skewing the game to support me, my people, my church, my country my.... my...my....
Am I the only one treating at all like a game?
(Tony Kriz. Aloof. Pg 26)
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