Prayer Olympics and the Deliverance of God

While the world is glued to its TV sets and computer screens to take in every possible minute of the Olympics (well, everyone except for those of us whose TVs are in storage and don’t pay the cable company each month) there is a parallel series of events that runs year-round in Bible studies and prayer groups. It’s something pointed out to me by a seminary professor that I affectionately dub, “the prayer Olympics.”

Those who go home without a medal are those who only have prayers for themselves.

You might make your way to the medal stand and take home the bronze if you pray for someone else.

Silver for you if you thank God for something God has done.

But you bring home the gold if you “just” praise God for “who You are.”

The less it has to do with you, the greater your reward!

I think that this is a trap. And a bad one.

Reading through scripture, God is praised and praiseworthy not for abstract ideals or inherent character traits. Instead, God is praised and praiseworthy because of how (or “if”!) God is actually at work in the world.

Perhaps the two greatest (and related) reasons why God would be praised are for faithfulness to God’s people and deliverance.

The story of Jesus loosing a woman who had been bent over for eighteen years is a terrific example of this, as is Psalm 71.

I’d love to walk through those with you, so hop on over to LectioCast.com and take a listen to this week’s episode.