Jesus, make him treat me with the respect I deserve.

Jesus, give me as much as my brother and I will serve you well.

Jesus, heal my husband so I can be freer to live my life the way I want…

Jesus, fix my car today and I will be better at taking care of it.

Jesus, make the people at work be more encouraging to me when I do good.

Jesus, why can’t my home be as good as my sister’s home? 

Jesus, I work hard for less pay than the person in the next cubicle, can you make my boss give me the raise I deserve?

Jesus, life is not fair to me, are you even listening?  Nothing has changed yet for me… 

And Jesus wept.

Jesus said did say “pray for anything.”  However, I wonder if we are taking this scripture a bit out of context, though?  Do our prayers lean more toward self-promotion, self-indulgence, and self-fulfillment as we use the bargaining techniques used by the world of negotiating contracts to ask for anything we want and think we deserve?

Let’s see what Jesus says…

Luke 12, The Message

The Story of the Greedy Farmer

¹³ Someone out of the crowd said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.”

¹⁴ He replied, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?”

¹⁵ Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”

^16-19 Then he told them this story: “The farm of a certain rich man produced a terrific crop. He talked to himself: ‘What can I do? My barn isn’t big enough for this harvest.’ Then he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll gather in all my grain and goods, and I’ll say to myself, Self, you’ve done well! You’ve got it made and can now retire. Take it easy and have the time of your life!’

²⁰ “Just then God showed up and said, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. And your barnful of goods—who gets it?’

²¹ “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.”

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Jesus, Matthew 6:33 

Believers shouldn’t worry about the basic necessities of life. If we keep God first in our lives, He will sustain us. He is in control.  Pray for God to change the desires of our hearts to match His desires for us and contentment will grow in our lives.  We begin to see life from a new perspective by the God who knows all and is in all.  We will see ourselves become less concerned with self and more concerned with what God wants.  We discover that our taking attitudes begin to transform into the joys of giving.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” –Jesus, Matthew 7:7-8

This passage is surrounded by commands by Jesus to stop judging and criticizing others, treat people as you would want to be treated, give more than you take.  Jesus invites us to ask God to grow His character in us.  When we seek to know how God loves, we love each other like He loves us.  When we knock on God’s door of righteousness, He opens His door quickly to all who want to follow in His ways.

Be honest. Are we glad he says no to what we want and yes to what we need? Not always. If we ask for a new marriage, and he says honor the one you’ve got, we aren’t happy. If we ask for healing, and he says learn through the pain, we aren’t happy. If we ask for more money, and he says treasure the unseen, we aren’t always happy.

When God doesn’t do what we want, it’s not easy. Never has been. Never will be. But faith is the conviction that God knows more than we do about this life and he will get us through it.  Disappointment is caused by unmet expectations. Disappointment is cured by revamped expectations.

We need to hear and understand that God is still in control. We need to hear that it’s not over until God says so. We need to hear that life’s mishaps and tragedies are not a reason to bail out. They are simply a reason to sit tight.  When we turn to self alone, we become edgy, negative, expecting the worst not God’s best.

Corrie ten Boom used to say, “When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.”  So, the next time you’re disappointed, don’t panic. Don’t jump out. Don’t give up. Just be patient and let God remind you He’s still in control. It isn’t over until God says it’s over.  Trust Him. 

Ask for God to remove self from the equation.  Seek God first and limited self-desires begin to fade away from our thinking.  Knock on God’s door of all that His best for us…He’s waiting patiently for us to humble ourselves before Him.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Lord,

Thank you for consistently helping us remove the barnfuls of self from our lives so that we may grow up with your character traits.  Cleanse our hearts.  Remove all that offends you in us.  Renew our minds and transform our thinking.  Refresh our souls with your new, loving mercies.  Restore the joy of your salvation at work within us.  For this work of you in us instills peace unlike the world gives, but your everlasting peace that breeds contentment in all things.  We ask, seek, and knock in Your Name for Your glory to be seen in us.

In Jesus Name, Amen