the prayers of the first world

He was pushing his lawnmower down the sidewalk through the neighborhood.  I passed him as I drove the mile-and-a-half drive to my friend's house for Bible study.  I imagined he was probably returning from working or from looking for work by cutting people's grass on a hot, summer day---the ones we are famous for down here in the South.  I silently prayed, thanking God that I had a job--one that was reliable and provided me with income and then some.  I thanked Him that I had a car to get me to work and didn't have to walk or hitch a ride.  I thanked Him that I had a job inside with air to keep me cool in the summer and heat to keep me warm in the winter.  I thanked Him that I didn't have to labor all day out in the hot sun like this man probably did.  Now, all of these reasons are obviously reasons to be grateful and thankful to God.  But, then I paused and thought....basically I just thanked God for a really nice job,  a vehicle, and an air-conditioner and heater.  These are definitely the prayers of a first world nation.

A friend of mine is serving in an orphanage in South Africa right now.  She is ministering to children who have been orphaned because of the awful AIDS crisis.  I'm sure they don't care much about the things listed above.  They want to know the love and acceptance of God as Father.  They long to be embraced and to be cared for.  Their prayers are probably much different.

Some members of my church just returned from a mission trip to Peru to provide dental care to people in small villages along the Amazon River.  I went to some of those villages along the Amazon River two years ago.  Work?  Toiling in the hot sun to grow food for themselves or going to the river to fetch water and wash clothes.  Cars?  Didn't see a single one.  They get around by boat---canoes they made themselves.  Motor?  Their own muscles.  Air-conditioning(no heaters needed there)?  Forget that.  They barely even have buidings.  Most homes were wooden houses on stilts with a straw roof.  No walls so that breezes can blow through.  The prayers of the people here are so different than mine.

I'm reading a book right now about the expereinces of a young woman from Tennessee who has moved to Uganda to live and serve among the poorest of the poor.  She left home for this country right after high school while most of her friends were headed to live it up at American universities to  enjoy "the best years of their life".  She doesn't have these little luxuries and modern conveniences that I listed above, and she has come to see that there is much more to life than these things.  There is so much richness in life outside of these material riches.  I know that her prayers are different now, too.

Yes, God does provide for me so abundantly, especially in the area of material possessions.  But, He provides so abundantly in every way, and I want to be even more grateful for those things.  I want my prayers to continually go deeper and deeper beyond just surface-level, material things.