the counseling prayer

There's a kind of prayer that doesn't go very well with God.  I know because I've frequently tried it, to little avail.  It's what I call the counseling prayer.

This is when I'm presumably praying to God, but, in actuality, I'm counseling those listening to my prayer.  It goes something like this:  "Lord, you know that we all could be more generous, more faithful in our giving to the church so that we can gather like this in worship and our staff can put food on the table..."  God might well respond, "Hello.  Are you talking to Me?"  Isaiah and Jesus quote God saying These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me (Matthew 15:8).

My counseling prayer also shows up when I pray in great detail about a situation to make sure that God understands what's going on and knows how to deal with it.  "Lord, if you could just help my sister to go see our brother so that the family can come together and we can enjoy our vacation and not have to pay for separate accommodations with money You know we don't have..."  It's like I'm God's counselor, thinking I'll be heard for my many words of Godly instruction.  Jesus says Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him (Matthew 6:8).  Paul asks, Who has known the Mind of The Lord, or who has been His counselor (Romans 11:34)?

Instead, I can focus my prayerful attention on God, trusting that He understands my situation, and me, and all involved. Jesus invites me, and you, to pray directly and simply, like this: Our Father...