Monkey Paw God Part III

    I have a confession to make.  I'm thirty-seven years old and I still make a Christmas list.  Not just a note with some things on it to help out the wife with her shopping, but a detailed, categorized list of everything I want, even things that are in no way possible.  Ridiculous?  Yep.  But also lots of fun.  Plus it gives my wife some insight into what I'm thinking about.  It paid off this year!  Don't know how she managed an iPad, but I'm not complaining about it!  And all because my greedy self included an obnoxious selection on my immature list.  Merry Christmas to all!

    Believe it or not, Jesus was kinda into this concept.  Not that He ever encouraged greed or selfishness, but He was all about making your every request known to God, holding nothing back. (Check out Matthew 7:7)  That doesn't mean you get everything you ask for, but the asking helps to uncover your motivations and it promotes deeper connections with God.  And sometimes, you get one of the big ones you've been wanting!

    If you've been in church for awhile, that concept should not be unfamiliar. If you've never heard of it, let me say, "you're welcome".  It's great news that God cares about your wants and needs and desires to answer your requests (sometimes with a "no" but even that's good for ya.)  However, this concept can get twisted in several ways.  Keeping with the theme we have been talking about, I want to consider the idea that you need to be specific with God in order to have Him answer you in the way you want.  I'd like to challenge that idea in a couple of ways.

    First off, I fully support the idea of being specific in your requests with the intention of sharing more of your life with Jesus and allowing those conversations to provide insight into your reasons for asking in the first place.  There have been times when I have prayed for something and in the process had the Holy Spirit straight up tell me I was being selfish.  The result?  My heart was changed and I no longer wanted something that was not good for me.  There have been other times that God has fulfilled outlandish requests based solely on His goodness and my willingness to bring those things to Him.  A major win either way.  What I do get concerned with is the belief that we need to be overly specific in order to make sure He has to give us what we want.  I have spoken with people that believe that God only gives what we specifically ask for.  If you leave some verbage out, He is not obligated to respond, or worse yet, will give us some punitive version of what we need.  There's that monkey's paw again!  Look, it's not your words that God responds to, it's your heart!  If your prayer requests are offered within the context of a loving relationship with your Father in heaven and a willingness to submit to His decisions, you can pray in pig-latin for all the words matter!  Be specific in order to share your life, not because you are worried about loopholes.  Jesus is not that guy.

    Secondly, this concept needs to be tempered with some humility.  Ummm, this is God we are talking about.  You know, the only person who knows...everything!  He doesn't need you or I to be specific about what He already knows and we certainly cannot affect in the slightest whether or not He answers!  Being specific is for our benefit, not His.  If you think otherwise, you are wasting your time.

    So say goodbye to the Monkey Paw God. Instead, cling to the real God, trusting in His mercy and goodness to take care of you and provide you with what you need!  Share your heart and your requests with Him, believing He will respond out of love and not because you got the words right.  You'll be glad you did.  That other guy's a jerk!

Comments

[Kimmer]

I hate to admit this but man do I fall into this category!!! I rarely ask God for what I want. And usually its only after I've exhausted every avenue of trying to take care of something or get something I need on my own. Its like God is the "last resort" for me. and that is a terrible confession to make. But unfortunately I don't think I'm alone. I don't want to bother Him, or I don't think He will bother with me. Or I don't think my needs or wants are important enough. Or I think I should be trying to take care of myself. I have all kinds of excuses as to why I go to Him last, but none of them really make any sense. I am treating Him as if I didn't know Him. But I DO know His goodness, His mercy, His love. Its just as Aaron has described, I feel like my actions have some how nullified those characteristics. As if anything I could do could change Him. He isn't the Monkey's Paw. And I would be wise to remember that.