Pray What You Mean and Mean What You Pray

We Christians pray things like, "Teach me to rely on You," and "Help me to grow spiritually."  We talk about how hardships force us to develop graces like patience and endurance.  We quote Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 8:28 and feel good about our outlook on life.  Boy, it's easy to say all that stuff when life is going well, but it's so much more difficult to be enthusiastic about hardship when your actually experiencing it!  Life has been throwing some pretty stressful things the way of the Spencer household the last few weeks.  It's so easy to freak out and to forget just how blessed we really are (spiritually and monetarily), but, as I continue to pray these things, I am beginning to realize that God is answering my prayers.

The question, then, that we must ask ourselves is, "Do I really want to grow spiritually?"  Carnal disciplines (carnal meaning earthly or worldly, as opposed to spiritual) illustrate this idea for us.  I always loved to exercise, but I really never cared for jogging, working out, etc.  I'm a group-activity kind of guy.  The prospect of being stronger, leaner, faster, and healthier is appealing, but it is not strong enough motivation for me to go to the gym or hit the streets at 5 A.M (also, I've always been skinny, so that leeches motivation).  I don't want it enough to work for it , but work is exactly what is required for growth.  The same goes for spiritual growth.  I want to be holier and more patient, but that requires work.  I want to be more loving and compassionate, but that takes spiritual exercise.  I want to be more Christ-like, but that takes practice.  No one has ever become anything admirable on accident.  This applies as equally to the spiritual disciplines as it does to learning an instrument or a playing a sport.  They say practice makes perfect.  While we all know that that isn't literally true, experience tells us that it is relatively accurate.  Practice will never make perfect, but it will make us better; but it does take practice!  It takes effort.  It takes consistency and dedication.

Spiritual disciplines differs from carnal disciplines in one important way: we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us and the Providence of God guiding us as we cultivate spiritual disciplines.  Once again, carnal disciplines provide a beautiful illustration of this.  When people are having difficulty staying on a diet or an exercise regimen, what do they do?  They hire a dietitian, a coach, or a personal trainer.  They find like-minded friends to keep them accountable and to make exercise more enjoyable.  They find someone to keep them on track.  Instead of a being pushed by a life-coach, we have the Spirit of God indwelling us and empowering us to overcome sin!  Instead of a personal trainer developing a work-out routine for us, we have the Eternal God arranging the moments in our lives in order to make us more like Jesus Christ!  This does not, however, mean that we can be slack when it comes to training.  Being indwelt by the Spirit doesn't remove our need to work towards sanctification any more than having a personal trainer means you don't have to exercise.  Philippians 2:12-13 provides a beautiful synthesis of how our responsibility is reinforced by God's sovereignty over our journey:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

So next time you pray to God to bless you spiritually, remember that He might just answer that prayer.  He may send you something that will force you to grow (James 1:2-4) and to mature in your faith and commitment to Him.  Don't think that He is cursing you or ignoring your prayers.  Those hardships will be the answers to your prayers! Just remember, if you're going to pray it, you'd better mean it.