Last Sunday in my sunday school class, we talked about prayer. Perennial questions came up, the most pressing of which was how to avoid having prayers asking for help, and giving thanks for good fortune, become things that cause harm to those around you. It is ultimately the same issue that got Job’s friends into trouble, only the flip side of it. They tried to interpret Job’s suffering in relation to God’s will and activity. Today more often people ignore those who are suffering but confidently proclaim that their own good fortune is an expression of divine providence.
But no one ought to say that, and certainly not confidently. Give thanks, express gratitude, but do so in a way that does not deliver the message that God favors you and dislikes or cares less for those around you.
Here are a couple of images to ponder in relation to this topic:
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