Wish

When I was a little boy I thought if I held my breath while I was going over a bridge, such as the Evansville-Henderson Bridge, I could wish for something and get it.  My dad would inevitably drive slower and slower over that bridge while my face turned redder and redder.  I was very determined to accomplish the task and get my wish.  Now that I think about it; I never did get that pony that I always wished for while holding my breath across that bridge.  I wonder if that is where we get the phrase, “Don’t hold your breath.”



All too often we see praying to God in the same manner.  Prayer seems to be the task that when completed we get what we want.  It’s like the idea of a lucky charm or wishing upon a star; if you say the right words, then it will come true.  Others are looking for that genie in the bottle that will bring about our every wish or command upon a moment’s notice.  All you have to do is rub the bottle (task), and you will get what you want.

But God is not a lucky charm or a genie in a bottle that we tell what to do and he must do it.  Prayer is not a task and it is not ‘command’ central to God.  Prayer is our lifeline with God.  Often our expectations are for God to give us everything we want and precisely when we want it.  If we have said the right words, then it must come true.  We act as though we are his superior and he is our inferior.  We act as though God's job is to meet our every demand or we will get mad at him.  If I don’t get what I want then I will not come to church or I will withhold my tithes or I will stop talking to him for a while. 

James 4:3 (NLT) And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

We need our lifeline.  We need God.  Ask God to help you have the right motives in your life of prayer.  Ask God for his purpose and his pleasure to be done in your life.  Ask God to help you always see him as the superior in your relationship with him.  Ask God for forgiveness if you have treated him in a wrong way or with wrong motives.

 

In Christ Alone and continuing in prayer,

Chad