5.8.18 Praise & Prayer Prompt: What Have You Done for Me Lately?

PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• Sometimes, I catch myself in my prayer life and it’s all about me.
“Lord I need you to do this, this, and that for me. And while You’re at it, can you bless this and give me peace about the thing we discussed last week?”
My prayers can turn into heavenly to-do lists real quick.
While I believe my deepest prayers line up with God’s will, and I also believe our God is incredibly generous and wants to give good things to His children, I also recognize there’s more to prayer than just me and my wants.
Now disclaimer time: the rest of this Praise & Prayer Prompt isn’t meant to insinuate that we can earn anything from God.
We can’t.
Salvation is a gift none of us are good enough to receive and yet, it’s freely given to anyone who trusts in Jesus as God’s Son.
He loves us so much.
Romans 5:8 NLT says, “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
So here’s today’s question: what have you done for God lately?
We are inundated with self-absorption.
Our culture virtually demands it between social media selfies; advertising campaigns that tell us we are worth the things we can’t afford; and the whole me-me-me way of thinking.
It’s nothing new.
Remember Janet Jackson’s song, “What Have You Done for Me Lately?”
That came out in 1986 and while the child-of-the-80s in me wants to say, “Oh that was just a couple of years ago,” it was over 30 years ago.
Gulp.
That’s another conversation.
But my point is, to some degree I feel like our society is more selfish ever, but that’s just humanity.
Any history book will demonstrate that truth.
Y’all we have so much to be thankful for.
Most of us could go for years without any purchase beyond the basics of food and shelter and be fine.
So instead of asking God for what He can do for us, are there opportunities for us to ask, “What can I do for Him?”
1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
While He doesn’t need us, He does want our time.
He wants a relationship with us, so we can give Him our undivided attention for a period of time every day.
We can be the hands and feet of Jesus to everyone we meet.
He loves it when we do that!
Doesn’t have to be big, but just small gestures that show a Christ-like love to the cashier at the store or the woman who drops her kids off at daycare at the same time you do.
So many ways we can give to God by giving to others.
In what other ways can we do things for God?
There are countless ways!
And each one is deeply personal because we have an amazing God who made each of us unique, Who values our individual talents and gifts, and Who wants a personal relationship with each of us.
What can we do for Him today that shows our love for Him and all He does for us?
Today, as you pray, first praise God for His generosity in giving us what we need; and praise Him for wanting to be a part of our lives.
Ask Him to show you ways to give back to Him a small fraction of what He does for you.