If you ask God to get you a good SAT score so you can make your hardworking parents happy, then you are trying to make yourself to be a God for your parents. And if your parents do get their sense of worth from what grades you get or what college you go to, you have become their new God. Playing God will cause you anxiety.

Because God alone is meant to give a person his or her sense of worth (Genesis 1:27). The First Commandment ("You shall have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:3) is a prohibition against getting your sense of worth from anyone or anything except God; it is also a prohibition against trying to give people their sense of worth apart from God.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with praying for diligence, concentration, or help in preparing for an exam or application. But if your underlying motivation for praying for these things is because you want to get your sense of worth from being a God to your parents, or from the prestige of a job, or from a university name, then you are guilty of idolatry, which often manifests itself in anxiety, sleeplessness, or discouragement.

Praying is God's gift to us; it is not for us to try and play God for others. Praying is how God takes away our anxieties by reminding us that we are His children; and there's nothing more valuable than that. In Christ (Romans 8:32), we can work hard without crippling fears of failing, disappointing, or being a nobody.

Because even if you get rejected, or disappoint your hardworking parents, you never got your sense of worth from these things in the first place. You got your worth only from what Jesus did for you on the cross. Similarly, if you get good grades or get accepted into a prestigious school or program, that won't matter either because your parents' pride for you was not dependent and conditional on your success, because their sense of worth never came from you in the first place, only from God.

Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

What are you studying for?

This is the necessary sequel to yesterday's email on "what are you praying for?"

Since a Christian gains his or her sense of worth from God alone, then why should a Christian study? It seems many Christians have no other motivation to study than to gain esteem from their parents or from others. So when they learn that their esteem is from God alone, they immediately become lazy with their studies. Therefore, it is equally important to learn the biblical motivation to studying hard; idolatry is not the only way to become diligent.

First, Simone Weil rightly said, “The key to a Christian conception of studies is the realization that prayer consists of attention.” Usually we pray to help us study. But that is backwards thinking. We should study to help us have a more profound experience of prayer. You can read Ms. Weil’s must-read essay on the Christian purpose of studying math or a foreign language here: Similarly, 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV) says, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” If you physically work out at the gym so you can play sports better, you should intellectually work out at school so you can enjoy God more through prayer and Bible reading. Don't use God to do better in school; use school to improve your appreciation of God's Word.

Second, even if you only get Cs or Bs on exams and your parents have “given up on you”, Colossians 3:23 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” In other words, a “C-average” Christian who gives an “A effort” in academics for God is infinitely better off than an “A-average” Christian who studies to please his parents and couldn’t care less about studying for a better prayer life. Study “with all your heart” because God doesn’t care about test scores but about your efforts.