Dear Santa.....

I want this; I need that; gimme, gimme , gimme…..Nothing irritates me more than greedy children; especially when they are my kids being greedy. I always tell them that yes, there are people out there with more, and there always will be, there are so many more people out there with way less. Much to my kids chagrin, I have often very haughtily pronounced to them ‘The ONLY thing one truly needs is oxygen and food!’ And yes, they roll their eyes and walk away with disgust! LOL

I came to the conclusion recently that I have been treating my prayer life a lot like a letter to Santa....a greedy recitation of my needs and wants. Sure, I try to include things like praying for world peace, end of world hunger and wars, but so many times I end up sounding more like a greedy child. Dear God, I want this; I need that; gimme, gimme, gimme.   

Webster’s definition of prayer is

1.       to make a request in a humble manner

2.       to address God with adoration, confession, supplication, or thanksgiving

hmmm…humble? maybe. Adoration? Supplication? Not so sure.

I wouldn’t walk into my boss’ office and say “hey boss, I want a raise”. I would at least start the conversation with “Hey boss, how you doing? You really are a great boss. I sure do like working for you.”  Shouldn’t I at least start my prayers the same way?

The prayer that taught us the way to pray, the Lord’s Prayer, starts off with “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name.” Heck, the ever faithful dinner prayer “God is Great, God is Good, Let us thank him for our food’ is a better example of how to pray than my Dear Santa type prayers!. I realized I hadn’t even been starting my prayers with ‘thank you’. I wasn’t having a conversation with God. I was doing a shopping list: Dear God, please help with this, please fix that, this is what I need to be happy and so on. I was focusing on more of what God should be bringing to our relationship rather than what I was bringing.

I have been working on my prayer life. I made a promise to myself to truly have a conversation with God, to pray with genuine (not rote) thanks and gratitude and to not tell God what I thought I needed.  My prayers would start off on the right track, Dear Father, thank you so much for being in my life, thank you for all the blessings you give me…uh... may I please…..”  and right back on the gimme train I was!  

It hasn’t been easy. My first instinct is still to tell God what I want. As with any conversation, it’s important to listen and not monopolize the conversation. (again, not a natural instinct for me!), but slowly, my prayer life AND my relationship with God has been changing. I am finding not only a closeness, but also a release. By not constantly focusing on what I think I need, what I am not getting; what others have that I don't,  I am not only happier; I am content.  I am finally able to see what God has given and what he continues to give to me.....what I truly need. And what glorious things they are!

Psalm 100

 ¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

 ² Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.

 ³ Know that the LORD is God.
       It is he who made us, and we are his ^[a] ;
       we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
       and his courts with praise;
       give thanks to him and praise his name.

 ⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations.

 Amen!