I want to be a hedonist.

While running the other day, I was listening to a Catalyst podcast on my iPod.  Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, the authors of "Rumors of God" were being interviewed.  As the discussion turned to prayer, there were two statements that really hit me.  You know - the kind of statements that you hear in which the conversation continues, but your mind is stuck on what was just said.

The first was:  God will always answer prayer that is for His glory and His Kingdom. OK.  Is that how I pray?  Really?  Honestly?  Frankly, most of my prayers are about (and for) me or my family.  The same goes for most groups I pray in.  Rarely do I hear people (or myself) concerned about God's glory and His kingdom.  It's not that God doesn't want us to bring our requests to Him.  The Psalms are full of that.  But the Psalms are also full of praise to His glorious name.

Then they quoted a guy named Frederick Meyer.  Meyer said:  "The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but unoffered prayer."  Again, I was convicted about how little I pray.  I think we can all admit to the need to pray more.  But maybe, as we pray more, we can pray less about ourselves and more about His glory and His kingdom.  I have already caught myself this week when I have started to pray, falling back into the routine of asking for things for my sake and not His.  Old habits are hard to break.

John Piper coined the term Christian Hedonism meaning, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.  Let that be our prayer.