Losing an "I"

One of my favorite phrases from childhood is, “Someone is going to lose an eye.” My husband is the perfect example of this phrase.  While playing soldiers with his brother, with the requisite long pointy sticks for guns, he was charging forward while Dave was turning to retreat, and Garth got poked in the eye.  It is all fun and games until someone loses an eye. While we shout that reminder to our kids, sometimes in truth and sometimes in jest, in the Christian walk we are not supposed to stop until someone does lose an ‘I”.  Do you put others first or do you need to stop and lose an “I”?

I confess I am very often selfish. I consider myself before others frequently.  Sometimes I am tired of doing good. Sometimes I want to think about me. Sometimes I get tired of being responsible.  When is it going to be my turn to stay home and huddle under the covers instead of being the one to keep things going?

The world tells us many things about ourselves, most of them having to do with putting ourselves first: “I’m worth it”, “Care begins with me”, “You deserve a break today” are just a few.

Philippians 2:3 tell us, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves”.

The truth is, I think about myself plenty.   But as a Christian I am called to “lose an I”. It’s just that the “I” is me, or my absorption with self.  When I strive to put others before myself there is a subtle shift in the way I look at the world. I begin to see the whole person standing in front of me, not just their exterior.  I begin to see their needs and their gifts. I begin to see that they are God’s beloved child, just as I am.  I begin to see their worth through my Fathers eyes, and hopefully, the way I view myself has changed as well.

Never Stop Praying

There is a book by Bill Hybels entitled, Too Busy Not to Pray.  I have not read it. If I am too busy to pray I am certainly too busy to read the book!  Sometimes it feels like I am too busy or too crabby or too worried to pray.  God knows I feel that way and He wants me to pray anyway. I get it. He wants to know about the sometimes meaningful and sometimes ridiculous things that consume my thoughts and therefore, my time and my life.  I wish that I could say I was one of those people who always immediately stop to pray when she is disgruntled, crabby or upset. Sometimes I see those things as the circumstances of life instead of as things that should be entrusted in prayer to the Lord.

There are a lot of tools that people use for prayer: journals in which they log every prayer concern and then pray over them daily, weekly, or monthly; or prayer photo albums in which loved ones are displayed and prayed over. Some people make lists and some pray while they drive.  Some people pray in bed, and some pray every morning before they start their day.  No matter where, when or how you like to pray, one thing is perfectly clear.  God wants us to pray.  He craves time with us in this way. 

Are you and I really too busy to pray? Maybe we should stop thinking of prayer as a set activity and think of it as a lifestyle. After all, it is what God tells us in 2 Thessalonians 5:16-18. Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 

This scripture is a “sandwich cookie” communication: the cream in the middle surrounded by cookies on the outside.  My son used to take sandwich cookies, eat the center and throw the cookies away.  In this scripture the outside of the sandwich cookie is joy and thanksgiving.  God says that we should never stop praying, but he is concerned with what you are wrapping your prayer in. Don’t discard the joy and thanksgiving like an unwanted cookie! I think this is an important message for daily living from a father to his children:  “Always be joyful, never stop praying, and in every situation, be thankful.  This is what I want for you my child.” 

When we are focused on joy and thanksgiving it changes the tone of our prayers. It causes us to focus on the one we are praying to instead of the one we are praying for (usually ourselves). It causes us to see the blessings and great things that God has already done in our lives, reminding us that all our concerns are safe in our Father’s keeping.  “Never stop praying” means that each day, all day, I can communicate with Him. It is an ongoing conversation in which He is always listening and available.

Today and everyday: never stop praying.