Petition without instructing

Prayer is a vital part of our Christian walk. Its the vehicle we use to talk to God. How we view prayer says a lot about our relationship with God. It's like any relationship. If we only pray in times of crisis, we show a lack of love. True love is reflected in the time and manner we spend with the one we love.If we only talk to them when we want or need something, then we don't really love them.

We've all been in relationships where we've been used by other people. They only come to us when they need something. When all is right in their world, they forget about us and spend time with everyone else BUT us. We feel neglected and taken for granted. They think we'll always be here for them so they don't nurture us and give us the recognition that we deserve. We're only good when they need something. Sometimes that's how we treat God. We know He'll always be there and take us back. But when times are good, you find us going to Him much.

And dont include the solutions with your petitions. Sometimes when we do pray it's like a Christmas list. We go to Him with our problems, our needs and wants. But we also provide the answer. We don't trust God to come up with the best possible answer. Remember, God's answers are wiser than our prayers. We must always end our petitions with the acknowledgement that His will be done, and not ours.

In the end, we must present ourselves as empty vessels and let Him work through us. His will and plan is always perfect. We may not always know why He does certain things, but His ways are not our ways and in His time, He will let us know.