Relief of our necessity
Almighty God, who hast promised to hear the petitions of those who ask in thy Son's Name: We beseech thee mercifully to incline thine ear to us who have now made our prayers and supplications unto thee; and grant that those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy will, may effectually be obtained, to the relief of our necessity, and to the setting forth of thy glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Praying that God will grant us those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy will is tricky. It means we have to let go. We have to trust that God will answer our prayers according to his opinion of what constitutes the "relief of our necessity." What really is our necessity? Is it really necessary that we have a fine car, fancy clothes or jewelry, live in a prestigious neighborhood? It seems to me that our necessity is a relationship with God. In praying this prayer we are asking that our necessities be obtained through his eyes. He gets to decide what is a necessity. The most important necessity that comes to mind is a relationship with God. We have the ten commandments to guide us in our daily lives. But in Matthew 22:37-40, we are told that to love God and love our neighbors are the most important things we can do. Those seem like simple things. But I challenge you to look around at who your neighbors are.
The people I see as my neighbors are, obviously, the people who live around my house, the people who sit next to me in church, the strangers on the sidewalk, people eating in the same restaurant. Those are easy people to "love." But what about the woman who comes and asks for help with her power bill or her water bill? It's hard for me to love that woman when she has her hair done and her nails professionally polished. I think to myself, why doesn't she see if she stopped spending her money foolishly she would have money for her necessities? But that's not loving. That is judging. It's hard for me to love the black man who frightens me a little bit when he comes to the church door smelling of alcohol. I think to myself, why doesn't he put away his drinking and straighten himself up? But that's not loving. That is judging. So part of loving must be not judging. To show my love to these people is to try to help them regardless of their circumstances.
What about the Muslim man who has opened a restaurant in town? There are many people in this town who cannot love that man. I don't ask them why. I don't like to argue with people. God said love your neighbors. So accepting people who worship differently than I do is part of loving my neighbor. I once read that we will never change a person's heart by telling them how wrong and evil they are. We must show them a light so bright that they will want to know the source of that light. So respecting the way other people worship is part of loving our neighbor. Agreeing with everything is not a part of love but being respectful is.
Praying that God will grant us those things which we have faithfully asked according to thy will is tricky. It means we have to let go. We have to trust that God will answer our prayers according to his opinion of what constitutes the "relief of our necessity." What really is our necessity? Is it really necessary that we have a fine car, fancy clothes or jewelry, live in a prestigious neighborhood? It seems to me that our necessity is a relationship with God. In praying this prayer we are asking that our necessities be obtained through his eyes. He gets to decide what is a necessity. The most important necessity that comes to mind is a relationship with God. We have the ten commandments to guide us in our daily lives. But in Matthew 22:37-40, we are told that to love God and love our neighbors are the most important things we can do. Those seem like simple things. But I challenge you to look around at who your neighbors are.
The people I see as my neighbors are, obviously, the people who live around my house, the people who sit next to me in church, the strangers on the sidewalk, people eating in the same restaurant. Those are easy people to "love." But what about the woman who comes and asks for help with her power bill or her water bill? It's hard for me to love that woman when she has her hair done and her nails professionally polished. I think to myself, why doesn't she see if she stopped spending her money foolishly she would have money for her necessities? But that's not loving. That is judging. It's hard for me to love the black man who frightens me a little bit when he comes to the church door smelling of alcohol. I think to myself, why doesn't he put away his drinking and straighten himself up? But that's not loving. That is judging. So part of loving must be not judging. To show my love to these people is to try to help them regardless of their circumstances.
What about the Muslim man who has opened a restaurant in town? There are many people in this town who cannot love that man. I don't ask them why. I don't like to argue with people. God said love your neighbors. So accepting people who worship differently than I do is part of loving my neighbor. I once read that we will never change a person's heart by telling them how wrong and evil they are. We must show them a light so bright that they will want to know the source of that light. So respecting the way other people worship is part of loving our neighbor. Agreeing with everything is not a part of love but being respectful is.
If we go back and look at "the relief of our necessity", perhaps the man or woman who comes to the door has prayed for relief of their necessity. Perhaps we are the tool God will use to relieve that necessity. Allowing ourselves to be used by God to relieve others' necessities is loving God and loving our neighbor.
Comments
Post a Comment