Prayer requests or demands

How many times have you entered prayer with a list of demands instead of a list of requests for God? Too many times for me. What's the difference between asking/praying with boldness and confidence and demanding that God deliver?

If we approach God like a vending machine dispensing blessing on demand, then we'll treat God with disrespect.

But, if we approach God in humility and honesty, asking God for what we hope and desire and leaving it in God's hands to work his purpose out, then we'll have the proper perspective. It's like Jesus praying in the garden of gethsemane. He didn't want to die a painful, agnonizing death...that was his desire, but he tempered it saying, "Not my will but yours be done."

Bottom line: Prayer emerges and is evidence of a relationship. I don't have a relationship with a vending machine. I have a relationship with God who desires to have a two way communication between himself and his people.