Unselfish Prayer

BY HERRMANN G. BRAUNLIN

James 1:5-7
DID YOU HEAR about the two brothers who had farms right next to each other? They bought a cow between them with the idea of sharing its milk for the use of their families.

Well, one morning one brother offered prayer and remembered to pray for all the members of his family, for his fields, and for his day's work. And he finished his prayer by saying, "And Lord, bless my half of the cow."

Now, don't tell me that couldn't happen. You and I have prayed that way, only it wasn't half a cow. You would suppose that if there's any time when we would be unselfish, it would be when we pray. But it's surprising how selfish we are in our prayers.

Self-centered. We often pray earnestly about our own troubles. But we group all the troubles of others in one big genera] remark: "And bless everyone who needs Thee,"

Why, we pray for our own church, for our own preacher. But there are other churches, other preachers, other ministries and missionaries. We hardly pray for them. Most of us simply find it difficult to see further than our own tiny circle, our own limited interest.

But for us to get answers to our prayers, there must be a right attitude on our part. We must be like God in the sense that we think as He thinks and feel as He feels. And it's necessary for us to be one with Him.

Let me read a passage in the Bible that shows that. James 1:5-7:

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men
liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
God's end. Now, look at that verse carefully. It tells us that God is at one end of prayer, and we are at the other. And it describes the God to whom we pray and us who do the praying.

Verse 5, describing God, says: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not and it shall be given him."

You see the picture? There is Godgreat, gracious, giving, hearing, responding. He is a liberal giver.

Man's end. Now at the other end you have this description in the next verse: "But let him (that is, the man who does the praying) ask in faith, nothing wavering."

You see, God does not waver. He responds and does so liberally. When we come to Him, we should not waver.

"Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."

In other words, when we come to God, we should become like Him. We know that God's purpose is a lofty purpose. God's purpose is not a small, selfish one. When we pray, we should respond to the very nature of the God to whom we pray. And that's what praying in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ is all about. o

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