Saturday, June 5, 2010

Praying for Golf Games

I was reading more of Francis Chan's book Forgotten God when I had an epiphany.  OK, epiphany is probably too strong - perhaps it was just a slight realization?  It was at a funny time too - when Chan was talking about the basics of the Holy Spirit.  I have this problem when I read a book that isn't written primarily to make me feel dumb scholarly of just glossing over the sections.  I think it's a defense mechanism that I have developed in order to be able to stay sane through reading all of my school stuff.  Anyways... Where was I?



Oh yeah, I was reading and Francis was presenting the basic facts about the Holy Spirit (Chan p 71).  One of the things that he was writing of was how the HS is a person of the Trinity and is God and how He intercedes for us in prayer.  It was here that I began to think about how the Holy Spirit helps us grow. 

Francis talked about how once he prayed that God would help him shoot his best game ever.  He asked God to help bump his score from a 90 to a 70 throughout the day, an admittedly selfish move.  He then went on to shoot his WORST game ever.  Not to give the book away, but he talks about how God knew that he needed a lesson in humility and grace in losing more than a 70 on his score card.  Now when I read that, it was a light bulb moment - how many times have I prayed for something with the wrong motivation?!  And how many times has God answered with exactly what I NEED?!

If you know me, you know how much I love my sports teams.  UCLA (RIP Coach), the Braves, the Ducks, the Seahawks, the US Soccer team: the finest collection of winning impaired highly trained athletes in the country!  I wonder how many times I have prayed for God to help my team out and they wound up losing.  When I was a kid, I would think that it was because I was praying the wrong way or I had done something wrong so God couldn't hear me clearly.  God has shown me over the years that He wants us focused on His glory and our edification.  The Spirit is praying for us to grow closer to God.  He is working in us for our sanctification... He knows what we need to grow closer to God and will move mountains or create valleys so we will look to God for help.  So next time you pray for a good golf game, or no traffic on the way to work, or for God to show his power in your everyday life be careful - he may just show you in a different way.

Something to think about while we continue to study growth at NPFCC.

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