Attitudinal (is that even a word?) Sins

   When I sit down and really think about my life of service, I find, more often than not, that it is a service of convenience. If it fits into my schedule, then I am glad, even happy, to do it. If not, then I may do it, but it will be with a begrudging attitude.

   Chambers talks today about prayer again, and why people are disappointed in God because of unanswered prayers.

   "The illustration of prayer that Our Lord uses here is that of a good child asking for a good thing. We talk about prayer as if God heard us irrespective of the fact of our relationship to Him (cf. Matthew 5:45). Never say it is not God's will to give you what you ask, don't sit down and faint, but find out the reason, turn up the index. Are you rightly related to your wife, to your husband, to your children, to your fellow-students - are you a "good child" there? "0 Lord, I have been irritable and cross, but I do want spiritual blessing." You cannot have it, you will have to do without until you come into the attitude of a good child."

   I tend to think of the "big" sins that do the most to separate me from God in my prayer life, but, most probably, it is the every day, not living the life God intended, sins that keep me puny in devotion. These are often overlooked because they are the ones that happen in our normal daily environment, like where we live.

   If my wife asks me to help her with something, even simple things like opening a jar of something, do I do it happily or grudgingly? If I think about it for a minute, I find that a lot of the time, I may consider it an imposition because I am "busy reading" or "busy at the computer". Of course, it is really not an imposition at all, but it may just not be convenient for me to get up and go do it. It is a selfish, me first, attitude and has no place in the Christian life.

   Everyday attitudes may do the most to separate me from God's blessings. I want to be His "good child", not just for the benefits of that relationship, but just because I want to be.

   Attitude, attitude, attitude