Gumball Prayer

One Sunday following a sermon on prayer, I was handed a folded piece of paper from a gentleman who looked to be in his late 50’s or early 60’s. I stuck the paper in my pocket and later opened it to read an unsigned note. The note basically said, “Why bother praying? God doesn’t answer my prayers.” He then went on to explain that he had prayed for God to do certain things for him and nothing had been done. He had prayed for God to do certain things in his children’s lives and nothing had been done. He talked about several things he had asked for but none of them had been given to him. He did state that he was a Christian and a deacon and had tried to live a good Christian life, but he had basically come to the conclusion that prayer was useless.

As I thought about that note, I wondered how many of us see prayer that same way? Is God really nothing but a “gumball” machine to us? Is that what prayer is all about? Do we see prayer like this: We kneel at the machine; put in our prayer; pull on a lever and expect our wishes to fall out of the sky? Surely we have a better relationship with God than that don’t we! How many times do we simply thank Him for our salvation? How many times do our prayers express thanksgiving to the Lord for healthy children and grandchildren? How many times do we thank Him for air to breathe, food to eat, a home in which to live and all the rich blessings He has given us? What kind of perspective is it for a “Christian” to value their relationship with God and the effectiveness of prayer solely on whether or not God does a good job granting our wishes? One look at the mission field in places like South Africa, where the AIDS epidemic has infected hundreds of thousands of men, women, children, and babies, and we would see that we have so much for which to be thankful. One look at the villages we minister to in Nicaragua where the men die in their early 30’s from poison they absorb into their bodies while working in the cane fields to support their families on $3.50 a day and we see that we are tremendously rich. God doesn’t love those people any less than He loves us either… But He saves them the same. He hears their prayers the same. And He offers them the same hope He gives to us... Hope that goes far beyond the troubles and shortcomings we face in this life. Hope that extends "to infinity and beyond". Hope that is eternal - a home in heaven - for those who come to Him in childlike faith and accept His sacrifice for our sin. What a cheap view of God to see prayer like putting a quarter in the machine and getting a gumball. Sometimes I really wonder if we get it! I wonder if a lot of us who claim salvation really got it! 

Do we value our earthly parents that same way? Am I one of those kids that think my mom and dad don’t love me and it does no good to talk to them if they don’t give me a shiny new bicycle? Is that really the way I define their love for me or the effectiveness of talking to them? No… of course not. There is so much more… And there is so much more with God too… Prayer is effective, even when we don't get exactly what we want. God hears the prayers of His children and He knows exactly what's best for us. Many times He will not answer because we aren’t listening to Him. We want something from His hands and He wants our heart. And if He’s really God, He knows what we need far better than we know for ourselves. To that man I would humbly say, “Don’t give up on prayer my friend. Don’t give up on God either. Just see Him for who He is and trust Him. Spend time with Him. Look for the blessings He has given to you – they are many. Take great joy that He's your Savior. How much more could He give you than His own life and an eternity of hope beyond this mudball, Earth? And be careful about what you may be teaching your children and your grandchildren about what defines the goodness of God and what constitutes a relationship with the Father.” And one more thing... none of us can live "A good Christian life". If we could, Jesus wouldn't have had to die on the cross. If we humbly submit in obedience to Christ, we'll find that God's grace is the key to everything. God doesn't answer our prayers based on how well we perform either. We are to simply spend time with Him - talking, listening, worshipping & praising the One who gives us life and all that is in it... Let's find our delight simply in being His children... can we do that? It'll change your outlook about gumball prayer...

Posted in: