This is something I am still growing in-and will forever be.

What I am learning is prayer is about tuning our heart, mind, body and soul to GodвЂ™s melody. When I thanked God for my church family, my requests were about what God wanted to do in and through us.Д«y shifting the center of prayer away from myself, I was able to pray, think and live in a far more selfless way than ever. As I thanked God for my wife, children and closest friends, I spent more time in prayer for them than ever. My prayers for myself were less trivial and more focused on deeper longings and desires. For 30 days, I thanked God for all I have been given, and something unexpected happened.Д«y simply saying, вЂњThank you,вЂќ I found myself wanting and needing less. I responded by saying, вЂњSure, IвЂ™ll do that.вЂќ In my head I thought this is the cheesiest thing ever. Several years ago, a friend of mine challenged me to spend time every day for a month thanking God for all that was in my life. If we are honest, praying for trivial things-a good parking spot, green lights, our team to win-is quite self-centered. Prayer ought to move us away from a selfish way of living toward a selfless way of living. Prayer has the power to change us, rather than only ensure our happiness. As long as our comfort and wants are the focus of our prayers, we will remain the dangerous place of falling asleep in the comfort of our privilege.

But this should not be confused with God ensuring our pleasure and giving us what we want. But this is misguided.Дoes God care about us? Yes. It should be no surprise, then, to find our prayers and requests are often in the direction of benefitting us.

The expectation of good things is a message peddled and preached from pulpits across America and held onto as GodвЂ™s shining truth by millions. Why?Д«ecause we expect good things in our lives. For as much as we struggle when bad things happen, we are nowhere near as confused when good things happen to us. And when harm does come, we are stunned and confused. We live each day expecting good, not harm, to come our way. Few of us want to admit we think like this, but it would do us well to admit we are largely an entitled bunch. So we pray for everything we want-trivial or not-as though God is our divine concierge whose job is to make our earthly stay more comfortable. ItвЂ™s not unpopular to believe God wants us to be comfortable and happy. Then we can return to whether or not God cares. Second, we should ask what prayer can do. We must wrestle with these questions, and consider a few things. Just the opposite, we ought to dig in deeper than ever. However, this does not mean we have to give up on praying altogether. I wish there was a clear-cut, easy answer with regard to why God responds favorably to one situation and not to another. But, after a three-year battle with cancer, she passed away.Д«ecause if God can respond to a prayer about high school football team and at the same time go silent to prayers for the healing of a little girl, what kind of God is He? Can we count on Him for the big things or just the little things? Can we count on Him at all? Can He be trusted? Hundreds of people in our church prayed faithfully for years for the healing of this little girl. And we were not the only ones who prayed. They constantly prayed for her healing, and sat with our churchвЂ™s leadership several times to pray over their daughter. They are young parents whose daughter was diagnosed with brain cancer before her 1st birthday.

Then, your team rallies late in the fourth quarter and pulls off the biggest upset in the history of high school football.Д«efore we get too carried away allow me to tell you about a family in my church. You rationalize that your prayer is not about the game as much as it is about the students, the school and the good it will do in the community. The atmosphere is electric and there is a stir in the crowd because everyone knows that tonight- this very game-is the one that will determine whether they make the playoffs. Let me give you a scenario: Imagine you go to your local high schoolвЂ™s football game on a Friday night. Often, when weвЂ™re wondering whether to pray for these small, day-to-day things, what weвЂ™re really asking is вЂњDoes God care?вЂќ But youвЂ™re right, some prayers donвЂ™t seem important at all. I know we can talk to God about anything, but should we really be praying about and asking Him for such trivial things?ДЇew would argue that prayer isnвЂ™t of vital importance for the people of God. Maybe IвЂ™m just a skeptic, but I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. I firmly believe in the power of prayer, but I get a little irritated when I hear people talking about how God answered their prayer for a great parking spot or something like that.