To pray, at it's heart, is to recognize that we desire God's will. I remember a time after the stroke I suffered (in 1994), and lying in the hospital bed, that ministers would come in and pray for me. One of the things they said were the same words I had prayed countless times before. Near the end of the prayer they said, "Father we pray that your will be done."

I didn't like it. I really wanted "my will"...because I knew what that was.

But prayer, at it's heart, really is a recognition that we desire God's will-not my will. Otherwise, why do you pray? Is prayer just a way for you to manipulate God into getting your way? That is not prayer at all! That's just a continuation of our selfish obsession.

Prayer has to be about God. It is not about me. It is not about you. Praying for God's will to be done is no cop-out-it is the essence of the heart of prayer.

Do you remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? It is found in Daniel 3. Take time to stop and read that passage.

These three Jewish men are about to be thrown into the fire by King Nebuchadnezzar. The king had warned them. If they didn't bow down and worship his image (thus, him!), they were literally "toast"! I love that pivotal moment when they revealed that understood that prayer is "no cop-out"

"O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. Be even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."

What those men said was no cop-out. They prayed in faith. This was a defiant "never-the-less". They were confident that God could deliver them. They declared on faith, "God is able to save us." Their faith in who God is, was not shaken by the circumstances of life. They knew in whom they had believed.

But they also understood that prayer was not about themselves. It was about God. So they make this bold declaration, "Even if He does not save us, we will be loyal to Him."

That's mature. That's faith. That's prayer. It is not a cop-out. It is all about God. It is a defiant "never-the-less" that says regardless of what life brings-I am putting my hope in God.

Where in your life, in our church, for our nation-do you need to pray with that focus?