Where Are You Going?

It seems to me that many of us start off on trips without keeping in mind where we're going. We don't have a clear view of the aim. We aren't at all sure what the point is. So we go to school or we go to work or we enter relationships and marriages and such with only a vague notion of where we're going with this.

Consider, for instance, the dilemma of prayer. We know that God is sovereign (I prefer the capital S, but I still think that most Christians agree that He is sovereign in some sense.) He is omniscient. He is omnipotent. He is perfect. And so ... we pray. What? Why? If God knows everything and God has the power to do whatever He wants and God is actually in charge, why do we bother? It's not like you're going to say, "Dear Lord, please help my friend Jimmy. He has cancer." And God is going to say, "Wait ... what? Jimmy has cancer?? When did that happen??!" He knows it. And He can heal it if He wants. He doesn't need you to ask. He's going to do what He's going to do. And yet, we pray. Why? Well, there are reasons, but if we're not clear on where we're going with prayer, the reasons won't be clear. We pray first and foremost because He said to. We are to pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). Jesus taught His disciples "that they ought always to pray and not lose heart" (Luke 18:1). We pray because we're supposed to. But that doesn't answer why. Prayer is our communication path with God. In it we ask and we thank, we confess and we implore. We ask, seek, and knock. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Php 4:6). Did you catch that? We pray with supplication and thanksgiving to eliminate our worries. No, prayer doesn't change God's mind or God's information. It changes us. It makes us humble. It teaches us dependency. It directs our attention. It glorifies God. If your aim is to get God to do what you want Him to do, you're using prayer for the wrong reasons (James 4:3). Prayer is to aid your relationship with God. If that's your aim, prayer works. If your aim is to twist God's arm with it, you will be disappointed with prayer. God uses our prayers in His work and we get to participate in His work with our prayer, but informing God or changing His will is not a function of prayer. We need to know where we're going with prayer or we will find ourselves frustrated.

I think we have all sorts of misguided ideas about where we're going with what we're doing. I think this is true in all sorts of things we all face every day. What is the purpose of Christianity? Is it to make bad people into good people? Is it a fire escape, so to speak? No. What is the point of life? Is it money, sex, power, fun? Is it a chance to fulfill my desires and dreams? No. What is the point of Christian Apologetics? To make converts? To argue people into the kingdom? No. What is the point of church? Is it to get large crowds and a good band? No. We need to ask this about everything in life and we need to have a clear grasp on the right answer because if we don't know where we're going, it will be hard to get there, we won't know if we do, and we won't likely know where to go.