Praying is seeing what God sees
Prayer is learning to see what God sees!
When they arrived, Samuel saw Jesse's son Eliab and said to himself, "This man standing here in the LORD's presence is surely the one he has chosen." But the LORD said to him, "Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart." (1Samuel 16:7)
Saul was a big disappointment as King. His inferiority complex and his brash acts of rebellion against God were not appreciated. The trouble with inferiority is you try and boost your ego up by doing things that should not do; eg sacrifice animals which was the priests’ job.
In one of his last acts, God sens Samuel on a mission to anoint the next King. He sends him to the home of Jesse who has a number of sons. Samuel appears and fear and dread enter Jesse’ home. Samuel was still a powerful man of God and His presence can only mean two things: Death or life.
Samuel asks Jesse for all his sons to present themselves to him. Jesse had some fine strapping sons. Each had all the potential for a King: physique and fighting ability. They all impressed Samuel especially Eliab. But God said to Samuel that He does not look at the outward appearances but the heart!
All the sons are paraded but there was one that had not come. He was the youngest and he was tending the sheep. His name was David. David came and God instructed Samuel to anoint David with oil as the next king. The Spirit of God came upon David and remained with him. It was another 30 years before David became King.
A few thousand years later Jesus said: "I tell you the truth: the Son can do nothing on his own; he does only what he sees his Father doing. What the Father does, the Son also does. (John 5:19)
Praying is about seeing what God is seeing and doing it.
Read 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Would you have made the same mistake as Samuel did? What Do you think of the way that God chooses people? Have you seen an unlikely choice become a good thing? How can you train yourself to see the heart of people?