Be Careful What You Pray For...



"Be careful what you pray for…" may seem like an odd statement, but I have seen some of my most earnest prayers answered in ways that I didn't necessarily want or expect.

Years ago there was a song that my children would sing with these lyrics:
Make me a servant
Humble and meek
Lord let me lift up those who are weak
And may the prayers of my heart always be
Make me a servant
Make me a servant
Make me a servant today

As the kids would sing it, I would use it as a prayer that God would help me to be willing to serve others and to keep me humble. I didn't really mean that I wanted to be placed in lowly positions, but at times that's exactly what has happened. How silly of me not to realize how this prayer was going to be answered.

Would I go back and change that prayer? If I could would it sound more like, "Lord help me to be in positions of power, authority and prestige. Help me to be puffed up and proud of all that I have accomplished." Absolutely not!

Last week a co-worker ran out of a meeting and asked me to call in a lunch order and then tromp through a snowstorm to pick it up. Was it my job? No. Did I do it? Yes. It's part of being a servant, but it's also part of being a good employee, a friend and a representative of Jesus.

Later in the day I was working on solving another issue in the office since the two people responsible for it had been out skiing during the workday. A colleague commented, "That's not your job." I replied, "No, it's not, but it is part of being a team player." 

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not always the servant. God has given me many incredible experiences in my life when I have been granted favor and positions of authority that probably were not deserved, but periodically God brings me back to the place of humility and service.

My prayer now is "Lord help me to be more like You, serving not out of force or compulsion, but out of love and kindness." Now I always remember as I pray that God is faithful, He will answer my prayers, not always the way I envision it, but as He sees fit and it will be perfect.


“Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Matthew 20:26-28


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