Misconception
Number 4: Prayer is sort of a
name-it-and-claim-it thing, right? Ask
for what we want and get it?
I’ll admit, the “name it and claim
it” mentality is very attractive. And it
sounds pretty Scriptural if you focus only on the verses that say, “Ask what
you want and you’ll get it.” But you
have to take Scripture as a whole. And
when you do this, it becomes a much deeper, more complicated issue than just
“ask and you get it.” And it also
becomes less about getting what we want - and more about getting what God
wants.
I’ve noticed that a popular teaching
out there is that because we are the children of the King, we should be living
in royal abundance. Yes, this is an
attractive idea to us because we all want things: more things, better things,
impressive things. We don’t like to do
without, to be in need, or to settle for less.
But this kind of teaching is
off-base biblically, waaaayyyy off-base.
Because when you look at Scripture, you see that the purpose for
everything is God’s glory, not our comfort or pleasure. Even the Son’s purpose is to bring glory to
the Father.
John
14:13: “And
I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the
Father.”
People who perpetuate this
“abundance” notion say that we need to be living out of abundance, not poverty,
because our Father’s resources are unlimited.
We should be clothed in fine clothes and have nice things because our
Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
And we should live like “children of the King” instead of paupers.
Yet it’s funny that when Jesus sent
the disciples out to preach, He told them, “Wear fancy, expensive clothes and
jewelry and drive the most expensive camel you can find so that people will
know that I am God and that I shower My children with many material blessings.”
Wait … let me check that verse again
… oops, sorry … it really says, “Take nothing for
the journey – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.” (Luke
9:3)
Yes, I do believe that God enjoys it
when we enjoy His blessings. And He likes
to give good things to His children.
And, yes, I think it is a good thing to make sure that what we put in
our homes are beautiful, quality things that we enjoy. But when we are pursuing “things” so that we
can impress others, feel secure, or “live it up” in this lifetime - instead of
using what He gives us to bless others and glorify Him - we are on the wrong
track. We are living for ourselves.
I do believe that we should be
living out of abundance - but not in the way that they teach. I believe that we should be living out of
abundance when it comes to living generously, to looking out for others, to
tithing faithfully, and to obediently taking risks as God calls us to. However, I do not think that it means
that we should be seeking to satisfy our selfish desires for temporary things
or that we should be focused on our own abundance.
Focusing on our own enjoyment,
appearance, abundance, and “stuff” is far different from living as a servant
and focusing on God, His kingdom, and others.
And to go above our means (or use God’s blessings) for our own selfish
benefit and then to expect God to pick up the tab is like being a spoiled, rich
kid who goes out and gets whatever they desire because Daddy will pay for
it.
And Daddy just wants me to be happy,
right?
But this is not the same thing as
living generously for the benefit of others and God’s kingdom, and then
trusting that God will meet our needs.
And, sorry, but you can’t use the
argument that being clothed in fine garments makes God look better when He
clearly talks about how our beauty should not come from “outward adornment . . . the wearing of gold jewelry and fine
clothes.” (1 Peter 3:3)
Yes, this verse is mainly speaking
about a woman’s beauty, but I think it relates to how we should be reflecting
God’s glory. Not with outward adornments
or with an abundance of fine things, but with a beautiful, godly inner
spirit. It’s one thing to take care of
ourselves and to do our best to look presentable and respectable. But it’s another to make our appearance and
comfort one of our highest concerns.
It’s one thing to enjoy having quality things. But it’s another to want quality things to
impress other people or fill some hole in our hearts or lives.
We should be more concerned with the
condition of our souls than we are with our outer appearance. And we should be more concerned with other
people’s souls than we are with our “stuff.”
How polished, fancy, and rich we look isn’t going to matter if people
don’t see God’s glory reflected by how we live the fruit of the Spirit.
Our prayers are more in line with
God’s Will when they are more about His glory, His kingdom, His righteousness,
and the eternal benefit of other people than when they are about getting what
we want or think we need to make us comfortable, pretty, fulfilled, and
enviable in this lifetime.
Once again, it does please Him to
see us happy and to give us things to enjoy.
He wants us to delight in Him, His creation, and His blessings. We should find happiness in the things we do,
such as playing games with our kids, gardening, decorating our houses, taking
walks, etc. But it is another thing to pursue happiness as an end in itself, to
be so overly concerned with our own happiness that we fail to cultivate an
attitude of thankfulness, generosity, contentment, and joy in the life that we
have, trials and all.
In our society, we have perpetuated
the notion that “God just wants us to be happy.” But I don’t think this is biblical. And good luck finding a verse that teaches
that.
Yes, as I said, God likes to bless
us, to see us enjoying His blessings and gifts.
After all, He tells His people many times in the Old Testament how He
will bless them if they obey. He wants
to bless His children.
But the problem is that when we seek
happiness over joy, we end up running after the things that we think will make
us happy instead of finding joy in the things that God has given us or wants
for us. We end up focusing on ourselves
instead of on God and others. And we end
up settling for temporary pleasures instead of storing up eternal treasures.
God wants us to be joyful, not
pursue happiness. And we can learn to be
happy, as well as joyful, with whatever He gives us. Happiness is a feeling based on our current circumstances,
but joy is a state of mind that comes from living life firmly rooted in God no
matter what our current circumstances are.
Happiness is like having calm waters
and lots of food. But joy is the ability
to have a deep sense of stability and thankfulness and faith in God despite the
stormy waves and famine.
God does not necessarily call us to
either abundance or poverty. He calls us
to be joyful and faithful and generous in whatever circumstances we are
in. It’s not about what we have or don’t
have; it’s about our attitudes. It’s
about how we use what God has given us.
Are we using it for ourselves or for
God’s glory and the good of others? Are
we using it for the temporary happiness it gives us or are we using it to build
eternity and His Kingdom?
By all means, pray for blessings and
financial stability - abundance, even – but remember that it’s about glorifying
God in the here and now, with whatever you have. If you have a lot, praise God and use it to
be a blessing to others. If you have a
little, praise God and be faithful with it, blessing others with your attitude
and your faithful handling of it.
We need to be less concerned about
getting the things that make us “happy,” and more concerned with finding our
identity in Christ. Then no matter our
circumstances, we can be joyful because we know Who we belong to and Who holds us
up.
Prayer is not so much about getting
things from God. It’s about getting
God. It’s about getting a deeper, more
authentic relationship with Him through our honesty and transparency, and it’s
about focusing on what will bring Him glory and accomplish His eternal
purposes.
When Jesus talks about wanting to
give us a full, abundant life, He’s not necessarily talking about having an
abundant life on the outside or in this world, which is temporary. I think He’s talking more about having an abundant
life on the inside and, consequently, in eternity.
And getting this abundant, inside,
eternal life oftentimes means going through pain, unanswered prayer, silence,
confusion, and a poverty of the spirit first.
Because this is what leads to pruning, conviction, adjustments, and the
growth that produces humility and righteousness and a more pure faith which
leads to that abundant life.
And this is quite different from
what the “name it and claim it” teachers teach.
They don’t teach about the hardships that bring the deep, eternal lasting
changes that lead to inner abundance.
They don’t teach about learning to be joyful and content with what you
have or about praising God and being faithful in the pain and unanswered
prayer. They don’t teach about the
eternal lessons and blessings that come from the painful trials and the “lack
of…”.
No, instead they teach that God
wants to bless you with lots of possessions in this lifetime and that if you do
the things He wants you to do then He will give them to you. You can earn more possessions by how you act
and pray and wait patiently.
But what about when God says
‘No”? What about when the answers don’t
come and the money doesn’t come and the healing doesn’t come? What then?
What about when you lose your desperately-needed job or your home burns
to the ground or the tornado sweeps away all your belongings or the illness
drains your life and your life savings?
What do these trials say about your faith and how God views you and what
kind of Christian you are? Do they mean
He is not happy with you because He hasn’t blessed you like you expected Him
to, like the “prosperity” teachers taught?
God can’t possibly expect us to settle for less, can He? Surely we must be doing something wrong as
Christians if He has allowed trials into our lives, right? Because good and faithful Christians always get
what they want from Him, don’t they?
No one wants to hear the message
that God allows trials into our lives and that He expects us to learn to do
without “necessary things” sometimes and that we are to learn to trust Him and
praise Him and cling to Him even when we are in pain and when life doesn’t work
out the way we thought it would. No one
wants to hear that the best blessings are invisible and eternal and they will
be waiting for us in heaven when we die.
No, we want to hear that God will
give us all the good things now so that we can have an easy, happy, carefree
life. This is why the “prosperity
gospel” is so popular and attractive. It
tells us what we want to hear, with “pastors” who are all shiny and polished,
with slicked-back hair, expensive cars, fancy clothes, and large pinky rings.
But I’d rather hear the gospel being
preached from a ragged, disheveled, battle-scarred soul who has been through too
many spiritual battles where they have had to wrestle deeply with their faith
and with God and with discouragement, doubt, and fear … and consequently, they have
been deeply wounded in their spirit and lost all sense of self-confidence and
self-sufficiency and have found themselves lying on the ground at the feet of
God in helplessness where they have learned humility and how to be fully
dependent on the Lord and to live daily in His grace … and even though life has
beaten them up so badly that they now walk with a limp in the spiritual lives,
their faith has grown stronger for it because they have learned that nothing
else will sustain them as Jesus does and nothing else holds more joy for them
than the Lord and building His Kingdom and working for His glory.
I would trust a message about faith
and faithfulness from someone like that much, much more than I would from a
slick, shiny, fancy snake.
They can have their expensive, polished,
impressive lifestyle. I’ll take the trials
and battle scars that come with building real faith in real life, the pain that
helps you learn how helpless you really are and how much you really need the
Lord, the struggles that help you learn to build up God’s Kingdom instead of
your own and that teach you to work for eternal treasures instead of earthly ones
that will all burn up in the end.
[Of course, we don’t ask for the
trials and the pain. But having gone
through enough of them myself and having had nearly all my expectations of life
shattered, I have learned that we do need to expect the trials and pain and
“no” answers and long waits. We need to
learn how to navigate through it all with the Lord’s help, to let it grow our
faith instead of destroy it, and to let it teach us humility and proper
dependence on Him. And this is something
that the prosperity teachers can’t teach us because they are too focused on
teaching us how to get what you want from God now. We spend our lives running from the painful trials,
whereas the painful trials are how God tries to teach us to be what He wants us
to be.]
Prayer isn’t about getting the
things that you think will make you happier or more impressive to others. Prayer is about getting God’s Will done,
about bringing Him glory and building His Kingdom, and about growing your
relationship with Him.
Even if we don’t get the things we
asked for this side of eternity, prayer is a success if it draws us closer to
God and creates a more proper, authentic relationship with Him. If it humbles us before Him. And if it helps us have a part in building
His eternal kingdom and accomplishing His Will here on earth. And any rewards that we didn’t get here mean
they are in heaven waiting for us to enjoy for eternity. Don’t trade your heavenly treasures for
earthly pleasures.
The closer we walk with Him, the
less self-centered and temporal our prayers will be. As we humble ourselves before God, we will be
more concerned with His glory and His kingdom.
And we will be consumed with the truth that He is God and we are
not. And therefore, we will be able to
trust His answers to our prayers.
Sometimes He may say “No,” and we will learn to draw near to Him in the
pain and to glorify Him anyway. (And we
may come to see His wisdom for answering the way He did. Or we may not - until eternity.) Sometimes He will change our requests and
desires, and we will be okay with that.
And sometimes He will say “Yes,” and we will learn to use it for Him and
to give Him all the glory. Because it’s
all about Him, by Him, and for Him, regardless of what clothes we are wearing,
house we live in, or car we drive.
I think that Jesus in Gethsemane is
the ultimate picture of brokenness. We
pour out our true feelings in prayer and make our requests, but then in the
end, we say, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
This is what a “child of the King” really looks like.
