How not to Pray. Part 2

2. Our needs or God’s glory

First, even though Elijah prayed that he might die we know that he did not want this prayer to be answered right away. If he was serious about that prayer all he needed to do was to stay in Samaria and Jezebel would have ended his life but instead we see him running away. Sometimes we pray a certain way because of emotion of the circumstances. We have taken our eyes off the Lord.

Second, after a spiritual high we are often most vulnerable. Elijah may have thought that he was important after all look at the outcome. He had prayed that it wouldn’t rain and for three and one half years there had been no rain or dew. He prayed for fire on Mount Carmel and the fire fell. He prayed for rain and the rains came. No one else in all Israel had accomplished what he had done. God was not using the other prophets, He was using Him. It was easy for the enemy to tempt Elijah with his importance. After a spiritual victory in our own lives we need to take our eyes off ourselves and “fix our eyes on Jesus.”

Third, we are often more concerned with our service for God than our holiness before God. It is easy for us to focus on our service and miss the blessings that God has for us.

Fourth, if God had answered Elijah’s prayer the way he had prayed then he would have missed the greatest blessing that God could bestow upon him, that is, to be translated to heaven without dying. Sometimes God will give us our desires but we have leanness in our souls. However, our Lord is tender. “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.” Psalm 103:13.

Fifth, sometimes we miss the answer to our prayers because our ears are not tuned to God but to our own desires. We are asking for one thing to make our lives easier and God desires to give us something else to make our lives holier.