Trading Jesus; Missing Out When We Get What We Want
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
I am stuck, early in this walk, bartering with Jesus. I cannot seem to move past what I want and the lengths I will go with Him to get it. I take a queue from the persistent widow in Luke 18, and I ask repeatedly. I mean, I ask repeatedly. I quote to Him in my prayers, “ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:14), tagging the ask with “in Jesus’s name”. I remind Him of Elijah and his repeated prayer for rain in 1 Kings 18. I bring up Exodus 32 where Moses intercedes successfully for the Israelites.
Soon my heart begins tagging me back with a sickening realization, “are you trying to manipulate the King of Kings?”
- Imagine for a moment a God who can be manipulated.
- Imagine for a moment a God who can be predicted.
- Imagine for a moment a God who comes with a published formula designed to get you what you want.
- Imagine for a moment a God who needs what I bring to the bartering table.
We are imaging a God who is no God at all.
There is a gift in repeatedly going to God in prayer, which is why I believe He gives us scriptures like Luke 18, John 14, 1 Kings 18 and Exodus 32. When I go to God in prayer, I am going to God. Going to God changes me and it changes my prayer. Articulating my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my problems, my needs, the aches in my heart, my sins, my disappointments, and even my anger in prayer to God, brings me to God. When I begin to get close to God, close enough to lay it all out, long enough to talk it all out, He begins to get my heart. When I go to God in silent prayer, straining to hear an answer, He gets my attention. My heart and my attention, that is what He is after.
My prayer moves from, “please, please, please” to…
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
Psalm 51:10-12
My prayer moves from, “I want, I want, I want” to…
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24
My heart transforms from a spirit of manipulation to a spirit of worship.
God answered that prayer, the answer came in the form of a big WAIT. Which is actually quite like Him, to grant me a time to wait. Had He answered that prayer when I first began to plead, I would have missed out.
- I would have missed out on Him. I would have taken my pretty package and ran straight back to the life He had just pulled me out of.
- I would have missed knowing that He can be trusted, no matter what answer He gives – Hebrews 6:18, Romans 8:28
- I would have missed knowing that joy is possible in all circumstances – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
- I would have missed knowing that He is the delight of my heart – Psalm 37:4
- I would have missed knowing that He is sufficient, even when His answer is no or not yet – 2 Corinthians 9:8
God invites us repeatedly to come to Him in prayer. Go to Him in prayer and stay long enough to know Him. Once you know Him, you will love Him. Once you love Him, your life will forever be changed.
“The reality is, my prayers don’t change God. But I am convinced prayer changes me.”
— Lysa TerKeurst
6 Comments
Rick
Beautiful portrait of godly prayer.
Amy
Learned the hard way…with knees on the floor and tears in the carpet.
Kimily
We talk about this. About wanting to make God do things how looks best to us. Thanks for staying in. Thanks for reminders of what we’d miss. (“And thank you, Living God, for wanting more for us, for wanting… us.”)
Amy
Yes we do talk about this, and often I do not like at first how it looks (which you know).
God is good and faithful to answer our prayers in ways that bring glory to Him and to us, abundance (overfilled goodness).
Thank you dear Kimily.
Lori
God knows us intimately, but we forget we don’t know God intimately…until we silence the noise and focus on Him. Thank you for the reminder. God is faithful and He does answer prayers…we must listen to His voice not our own. For his plans for us are much greater, His ways much better. When I stop and hear what God is teaching me, I stop trying to control my situation and God. We are powerless but God is not. Learning to surrender and pray in praise and gratitude of what is to come makes for a life of peace and hope. And along the way I am learning and trusting that He already knows me better than I know myself.
Keep writing, you are keeping me grounded in faith and inspiring me to strive to be a more Christ centered christian.
Amy
Dear Lori – I love what you wrote…”God knows us intimately, but we forget we don’t know God intimately.” So true. You gave beautiful reminders of a God who is greater than we can imagine.
Thank you for your note and your encouragement. 💕