"When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you
may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:3 NIV)
When I was young, I had huge character flaws. I was frivolous, selfish and
pleasure seeking. Sadly, huge chunks of these still remain in my life!
I remember spending one Christmas in Los Angeles. I had discovered a Nintendo
game I really hoped to receive for Christmas. I became obsessed by the desire to
have it, and I didn't cease to make my request known to anyone who would listen!
Naturally, my wife purchased the game for me. I was really excited to receive
it, but I have to admit that when I played it the first time, I was extremely
disappointed. It just wasn't what I expected it to be at all! Interestingly, now
I can't even remember what that game was called, or anything else about it!
When my wife purchased that game for me, she did so as a gesture of love.
However, unbeknownst to her, she was also nurturing my tendency towards
selfishness and pleasure-seeking. Video games did very little to bring me closer
to my wife. On the contrary, they drove us apart. I spent time with the games
instead of helping her out in the house, instead of listening to her, instead of
showing her support. My "I" increased instead of diminished.
Reflecting on that time in my life, I am shocked of the depths of my
selfishness. I acted like nothing more than a low-life, wasting precious time on
frivolous things and all the while neglecting to nurture the relationship God
had granted me. I am totally undeserving as I stand in awe at the foot of the
cross of the Miracle Maker!
Sadly, our prayer lives can come to look like my Christmas wish list: geared
towards the desires of the world. In fact, most of our prayer requests are for
things that are far from benefiting us eternally!
Take this prayer, for example: "God, grant Jim another job so he won't have to
suffer hardship!" Where does experiencing God's provisions and learning to
discover dependency upon God come into that prayer?
Or here's another: "Lord, help me find another job! I can't tolerate my boss!
He's such a jerk!" Where does learning to love those who persecute us come in?
Wouldn't it be better to ask: "Lord help me to get along with my boss and show
him an exemplary way to the cross!"
Here's another common prayer: "Jesus, hold my car together! I can't afford
repairs right now!" What about learning to trust the Lord for ALL of our needs,
including finances for repairs, or, maybe even a new car?
We can learn so much from Jesus' prayers, not only by looking at WHAT He prayed,
but also by examining what He did NOT pray for. Let's look at the His prayer for
Simon Peter: "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail." (Luke
22:32 NIV)
I'm afraid that I would have prayed a very different prayer for Peter: "Lord,
put a wall of protection around Peter, so that the devil won't even be able to
tempt him!" Or even "Lord, remove the vocal cords of those who might tempt Peter
into sinning!"
Instead Jesus prayed that Peter's "faith may not fail".
Temptation is not a sin, friends. The sin comes when we allow the temptation to
grow desire in our hearts: "Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:25).
Instead, temptation offers us the possibility of growing closer to God! "For we
do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but
we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without
sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Heb 4:15-16 NIV)
Only once did Jesus request a personal favor during prayer: "My Father, if it is
possible, may this cup be taken from me." (Matt 26:39a NIV) . Imagine bearing
all the sins of the world on your shoulders! Imagine facing the cruelest death
possible in order to save thankless humanity from destruction! My prayers would
have been filled with venom: "Lord, strike down those who want to lay hands on
the Holy One. They don't even deserve salvation!"
But to God, this thankless humanity, including myself, deserved a chance for
salvation! Notice the second part of Jesus' personal request: "Yet not as I
will, but as you will." (Matt 26:39b NIV).
Every prayer Jesus uttered was completely void of selfishness! He thought of God
and others first, even in prayer! He truly lived what He preached: "Love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
mind…Love your neighbor as yourself." (Matt 22:37, 39 NIV)
Friend, selfish prayers, prayers that will lead us away from God and from
others, cannot be granted! Imagine if your child would come up to you and beg
you to buy him some crack! You wouldn't grant his request! And just like a
parent could never grant the self-destructive requests of his or her child, God
cannot and will not grant us anything that will lead us away from His salvation:
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks
for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven
give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matt 7:9-12 NIV)
Do we even know what is good for us? Too often we treat God as a Santa Claus:
"God give me this and give me that and don't forget that either!" Too often we
walk away from our Heavenly Father, grumbling and dissatisfied because our
selfish requests seemed to be ignored. "God is SO unfair"?
Think of it this way: How can someone be unfair when He willingly died for you?
How can someone be unfair when He has eternity planned for you? How can someone
be unfair when we are more important to Him than His own Son? Do you want to
know just how important you are to God? "This is how much God loved the world:
He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be
destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life." (John
3:16 The Message)
Friends, most of our prayer requests are for things that are far from being
beneficial to us eternally! In fact, many of our prayer requests are best left
unanswered! Imagine what it would be like if every prayer request in the world
were to be answered! Whole civilizations would be destroyed! Greed would be on
the rise! People would serve God as a way to obtain what they want in life, over
the dead bodies of others!
Would we be any better off?
Unanswered prayers do not mean that God does not care. In fact, His greatest
gift is often that of an unanswered prayer! May we learn how to: "grasp how wide
and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that
surpasses knowledge…" (Eph 3:18-19 NIV)
"Honey, I just saw this stunning diamond ring . . ."
Nothing can be more precious that the love of the One who willingly died for
you!
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Eph
3:20-21 NIV)
Rob Chaffart
P. S. In other devotionals, I have insisted that God always answers prayers.
This message may seem contradictory to this idea. Believe me, it is not. A
seemingly unanswered prayer becomes an answer to prayer, if your original prayer
could potentially lead you away from your Heavenly Father. Remember: "He must
increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30 NKJV) It all depends on our
perspective!
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