“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22
In the past few months I’ve been thinking a lot about the things we pray for and I wonder sometimes, does God get tired of our petty prayers? Those prayers that sound something like this….Please help me get this job or Please help this person learn the error of their ways or Please help my team win this football game…prayers that are about you getting something and someone else not getting something. I think we’ve all prayed prayers like this, I know I have. But what about the person on the other end of the prayer who might be saying the exact same prayer to God with their name in the “I” box.
Don’t you think God would rather we pray for the things like….Please help me have kindness to my friend if I do not get this job and she does or Please help me have patience when my kids enjoy the things You’ve given us in nature instead of rushing to the car as I wish they would so we won’t be late or Please give me peace about a situation I cannot understand or grasp the why’s of.
I think what matters a lot in life, and in standing strong in tough times, is our attitude and how we react. The fruits of the spirit in the book of Galatians is all about that….what our actions show about us. I for one, know it’s not easy, but I think it would please God immensely if I were to work harder at displaying those fruits of the spirit.
Each month, for the next nine months, I am trying to focus on one specific fruit. For the month of November, I am working on being more patient. I could work on this for 365 days of the year and it still wouldn’t be enough. Things I need patience for…when my very potty trained pre-schooler poops in his underwear, AGAIN (sorry for the TMI!), patience for my frustrations when fb does not do what I think it should, patience with myself when I feel mired down with the grief of a tragic loss, and patience on Sunday mornings which, for whatever reason, it is so beyond more challenging to get to church than it is to pre-school.
So perhaps next time when you want to pray for a specific result, pray instead for the fruit that will get you through the situation at hand.
Love,
Jessica