Are you bitter or blessed?
How you see yourself shapes your life. It also moulds your prayer life.
Alan D. Wright, author and pastor of Reynolda Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, gave a telling example of the different ways of looking at life in a sermon he gave on God's grace a year ago.
He recalled that, as a young pastor, he counseled two people - a man and a woman - with an almost opposite outlook on life on the same day. The two people came from much the same social and economic background.
Cindy, the woman, lived with a depressed husband and had two children who were not believers. She had come to talk to him about a church matter, but when Wright asked her how she was herself she amazed him with her response.
She said her husband could be a handful but he was a good man. As for her children, she was believing God for them.
Then, she gave him a big smile as she often did and added: "The bottom line is that I'm so blessed." When she thought about what God had done in her life, she couldn't help but be grateful.
Wright had known her for seven years and he knew she wasn't denying her troubles. She was simply looking at God's grace in her life.
Later the same day, he listened to a man named Butch who had a lovely wife and three cute kids. Butch poured out his problems until Wright thought: "The more he talks about negative things, the worse he is getting."
So, he said to Butch: "It might be hard but maybe we could shift and start thinking about a little bit about what you could thank God for. Sometimes it helps your heart."
Butch was silent and then said he could not think of one thing. And then he erupted in curses and told Wright he did not know what it was like living his life.
"Maybe some day something horrible will happen to you and then you'll know how lousy life can be," he said.
Bitterness can choke prayer as well as poison life. Many people stop praying when they go through difficulties and God is seemingly silent. They dwell on their disappointments and lose the joy of the Lord.
The antidote is simple: Praise God for who he is and what he has done in our lives. This is a lesson I am constantly re-learning.
And there is always the need to pray for those we are angry with. Jesus called on God to forgive those who were crucifying him.
When I think of praying for people I am upset with, I find an internal resistance within me. I want to nurse my righteous anger.
But, then I remember what many have pointed out before - God forgave me. So, how can I not forgive others?
I feel that God is constantly telling me in various ways: "Be thankful. Enjoy what I have given you. Know that I am working everything out for your good."
How you see yourself shapes your life. It also moulds your prayer life.
Alan D. Wright, author and pastor of Reynolda Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, gave a telling example of the different ways of looking at life in a sermon he gave on God's grace a year ago.
He recalled that, as a young pastor, he counseled two people - a man and a woman - with an almost opposite outlook on life on the same day. The two people came from much the same social and economic background.
Cindy, the woman, lived with a depressed husband and had two children who were not believers. She had come to talk to him about a church matter, but when Wright asked her how she was herself she amazed him with her response.
She said her husband could be a handful but he was a good man. As for her children, she was believing God for them.
Then, she gave him a big smile as she often did and added: "The bottom line is that I'm so blessed." When she thought about what God had done in her life, she couldn't help but be grateful.
Wright had known her for seven years and he knew she wasn't denying her troubles. She was simply looking at God's grace in her life.
Later the same day, he listened to a man named Butch who had a lovely wife and three cute kids. Butch poured out his problems until Wright thought: "The more he talks about negative things, the worse he is getting."
So, he said to Butch: "It might be hard but maybe we could shift and start thinking about a little bit about what you could thank God for. Sometimes it helps your heart."
Butch was silent and then said he could not think of one thing. And then he erupted in curses and told Wright he did not know what it was like living his life.
"Maybe some day something horrible will happen to you and then you'll know how lousy life can be," he said.
Bitterness can choke prayer as well as poison life. Many people stop praying when they go through difficulties and God is seemingly silent. They dwell on their disappointments and lose the joy of the Lord.
The antidote is simple: Praise God for who he is and what he has done in our lives. This is a lesson I am constantly re-learning.
And there is always the need to pray for those we are angry with. Jesus called on God to forgive those who were crucifying him.
When I think of praying for people I am upset with, I find an internal resistance within me. I want to nurse my righteous anger.
But, then I remember what many have pointed out before - God forgave me. So, how can I not forgive others?
I feel that God is constantly telling me in various ways: "Be thankful. Enjoy what I have given you. Know that I am working everything out for your good."
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