We were created to be in a relationship with God. Prayer is our avenue of developing that relationship. A deep, meaningful relationship cannot form unless we have constant contact. Prayer provides that contact – a continual dialog with God.
Prayer can have many components: praise (1 Chronicles 29:10-13), adoration (Ephesians 3:14-21), thanksgiving (Ephesians 5:20), supplication (Matthew 7:7, Philippians 4:6), confession (Proverbs 28:13, 1 John 1:9), and so on. Unfortunately, some of us just focus on supplication and trying to get what we want.
Those who pray with an “I wonder what God can do for me today” attitude miss the mark completely. Prayer is not a means to get what we want. Give-me, give-me, give-me prayers sound too much like a three year old wanting another toy. Or it reminds us of the adult child who only comes to his parents when he wants money. There is no love. There is no heartfelt relationship. It’s just some whiney little kid wanting more, more, more.
There is a biblical analogy of us being God’s children. Hopefully, if our children have a bad case of the “give-me’s” we would have the good sense not to give in to their demands. Sometimes what they ask for would not be good for them. (James 4:3) Parents have to determine what will or will not be good for their children. Rarely does a child ask for a second helping of broccoli. Candy – yes! Broccoli – no!
Just because God encourages us to petition, ask, and make requests of him, doesn’t mean he gives us everything we want. True, God is omnipotent and has the power to give us everything we want, but he is not our personal Santa Claus anxious to fulfill everything on our wish list – even if we have been nice instead of naughty. Believe it or not, we are not the center of God’s universe. He loves us, but he loves the other guy just as much. And he loves all of us too much to give what we want all the time because it would not be good for us.
However, occasionally God will give in to our requests so we can learn a lesson. Remember the old adage: be careful what you wish for, it may come true. The same applies to prayer. Sometimes God says, “Okay. Have it your way.” Such was the case when the Israelites wanted a king to rule over them so they could be like other nations. That was not God’s preference but he gave them what they wanted. King Saul did all right for a while but trouble followed. (1 Samuel 8:6-9)
Another example happened after God brought the Israelites through the Red Sea and delivered them from the hand of Pharoah. They sang God’s praises. (Psalm 106:8-12) But soon they forgot all God did for them. They lusted in the wilderness and tested God in the desert. God gave them their requests, but sent leanness into their soul. (Psalm 106:13-15) What we want can sometimes lead to spiritual emptiness.
So be cautious with those give-me, give-me, give-me prayers. We cannot afford to look at God only in terms of what he can do for us. After all, look at what he has already done for us. He’s given us life, offered us grace, forgiven our sins, extended mercy, provided constant companionship, guidance, love. The list is endless.
Perhaps we should ask God to give us what he knows we need, not what we think we need. Our idea of wants and needs get blurred. Perhaps we should stop telling God what to do and ask him what he wants us to do. Perhaps instead of asking God to serve us, we could ask what we could do to serve him and others.
Of course, those kinds of prayers take a great deal of trust in God. However, if we don’t have a lot of trust perhaps we could ask God to give us a little more. That would almost be like a child asking for a second helping of broccoli. No parent would turn him down.
