Simple Prayer by Rachel Larkin

Author:Rachel Larkin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: prayer, prayer journal, praying God's words, how to pray, how to hear from God, praying the Bible, how to pray well, praying, warroom praying, war room
Publisher: Rachel Larkin
Published: 2017-06-19T04:00:00+00:00

1.2 Personal Growth Prayers Christ Centered Verses Self Centered Goals

The Self-Improvement or Personal Development industry is huge. All generations seem to be interested in improving themselves, from diet plans and exercise workouts to life coaching and counseling. In one survey 84% of the Baby Boomer's Generation admitted to spending an average of $152 a month on self-improvement while 94% of Millennials on average spent over $300 per month.[25]

I am definitely a goal and task oriented person. I love having a plan and sticking to it. My training as a Chartered Accountant is geared to personal development, continuous learning and increasing efficiencies. So you can imagine that I am drawn to the self-improvement industry. I don’t want to stay the same. I want each year to be an improvement on the last. I know as a Believer I have to be careful that my goals and plans are God’s idea as well. My focus needs to be Christ-centered and not self-centered. Our motives and intentions are what God looks at. He judges the heart.

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7).

When we ask our Heavenly Father for help are we asking for God to be glorified or are we seeking our own glory? Sometimes it is subtle and it is easy to deceive ourselves.

“And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” (James 4:3 NLT).

I find myself frequently praying for a comfortable life. I think we all do, don’t we? It’s only natural to ask for comfort. But is it God’s idea? Yes, God wants us to live worry free in peace, but that doesn’t mean that all our issues just disappear. It does mean that His peace is on tap, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We have everything we need to live this life through Jesus.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.” (2 Peter 1:3 NLT).

We have everything we need to endure all things. In the love chapter of 1 Corinthians (chapter 13) it tells us that love endures all things. God is love, and we have His Spirit living in us. This enables us to endure all things.

God is interested in our personal development. He desires growth in us. Jesus chose us for a reason: to bear fruit. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” (John 15:16). But as we work on our own development, whether it be losing weight, becoming positive thinkers or developing our life plan, we need to have Christ as the center of it all.

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