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Conditions of a Promise
This is one of those trap verses. Read it too quickly and you can speed down the false road of the prosperity gospel, waiting for God to give you a free pony and $5,000. The key to understanding any promise is to understand the conditions of that promise.
In this case, we must “remain” (other translations say “abide”) in Christ, and His word in us. If I put this in terms we’ve talked about at Cumberland lately, I think this means that we are not just Close To Christ, but that we are consistently Christ-centered, dwelling in Him and filled with His word. When I reflect on the Christ-centered prayers of my past, and what I prayed for, they were devoid of the me-centered selfishness that makes this verse appealing at a cursory, human glance. It’s the condition of our heart and mind, focused on Him, that assures not so much that we will get whatever we want, but that everything we want will be consistent with God’s will and thus inevitably will be granted.
This makes this verse less of a contingent promise and more of an obvious conclusion, on par with, “If I put my hand on a hot stove, it will hurt.” With this in mind, I find that my prayers are often a good reality check for where my heart is. Are my prayers selfish? Are my prayers those of a Christ-centered man, certain to be granted – if they are not, I know that my heart needs to be refocused on God, that I need to fill my mind with His word.
Rob, thank you for your deep insight. I agree that this verse can be very dangerous if interpreted anyway other than how Christ meant it.
I know that there are times that I pray with a self centered heart. I often think, it doesn’t hurt to ask. But I am missing true prayer and fellowship with my father, when I rattle of a wish list. (still hoping for a pony) Thank goodness God is gracious.
There’s a song – a tongue in cheek song to be sure – that sums up the wrong attitude – “Mercedes Benz.” by Janus Joplin http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/janisjoplin/mercedesbenz.html. One line goes “Prove that you love me and buy the next round.” Sure it’s ridiculous, and maybe our prayers would be oh so much more classy, but aren’t the lyrics the ultimate conclusion of me-centered prayers?
Amen to your insight that the verse is the obvious conclusion of a Christ-centered heart – us in Jesus and He in us.
Rob I am with you on our prayers being a great guage for our heart condition. I use my drive time to pray for my day and if my prayers are all about me my day centers around what I have to do. If I am praying for those I work with, the kids around me, and my boses I have much better days. If I listen to talk radio I think on those things. If I put praise music in I sing those songs all day. I thank and praise God He gave us His son to abide with and what a blessing His word is in my life. Thank-you Jesus
One of my favorite things about reading the old testament is seeing how faithful God was to the Israelites. They would live their lives for themselves and end up in a situation where only God could save them. They would pray and plead for deliverance and God in His faithfulness would rescue them. They would turn from their ways and remind themselves of God’s word but before long they would be back to living for themselves and heading down a path where God was going to have to rescue them again.
The Israelites failed to remain in Him. They would turn to God only when they desperately needed Him or wanted something. Once they had it, they turned and went their own way again.
This defined my relationship with God for a long time. Only when I am able to remain in Him does my life feel like it is less up to what I can do but what He can do through me.
Thanks Rob for a great verse and the reminder for me that a relationship with God is not one of convenience but one of continuous prayer, listening and thanks.
What a surprise to see you guys this morning.
It is a problem for me. I find myself praying day after day for the same thing. I wish for a husband. Now, I know that it is nto a bad thing but maybe just not in the cards right now. The thing is, how am I asking? Truthfully, I ask with a selfish heart. I want, I want, what it is in it for me.
Please let me concentrate on God’s will for my life BEFORE making my wish list.
Rob, you are spot on….thanks for your insight, as always…
I also agree with Penny, that it’s easiest for me to align my spirit with God when I am in complete silence….everything else is a distraction…since we live in a fallen world, this is right where Satan wants us…we have to put on our armor daily to fight against temptations around us….solitude is where I personally find victory…again, like Rob said, this is when I get a TRUE “reality-check of where my heart is…” and if I don’t stop and focus in on God….I’ll allow myself to get swallowed up by the distractions around me and MISS GOD’S PICTURE entirely.
Great insight Rob. I agree whole completely. However even when we think we are asking with a good heart we must remember the following verse.
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Sometimes I think I have the purest motives in asking however as Jeremiah says…Who can know?
Rob – Go Jackets! It’s great to see so many Tech men around this place.
It was that great theologian Garth Brooks who once wrote, “thank God for unanswered prayers.” If your kid asks you to eat pie for dinner then cookies for dessert, you’re probably going to say no and go cook some peas or something. I pray selfish prayers, but I am just a kid asking my Heavenly Father for stuff.
But, when I come before my Father asking with sincerity and honesty in my desire for the real needs – not just wants – of my family, my church, my health…I believe God hears and answers those prayers in a way that fits His plan for my life. If I were in charge of the plans for my life, I would eat pie for dinner every day.
The first step in humility is to consider who it is we think must change.
Holy Spirit, help us, intercede for for us. Pray with us, and direct us. Amen
See Romans 8:26,27
Jim -
That Romans 8:26-27 is always such a wild passage for me — BUT I’LL TAKE IT! I struggle with selfish prayers, and so perhaps with the Holy Spirit’s help (and I’m doing my share of abiding) — my selfish prayers can be taken to the father somewhat corrected. Hmmm… Prayer is such a wonderful mystery. I’m so glad I don’t have to have prayer all figured out like a Georgia Tech engineer!!
Jim, I like what you said and just re-read Romans 8:26-27. It is a good reminder for me.
So I thought about this all day yesterday. It is the day after and maybe folks will roll on to the next devotional but I had these questions come to mind:
How do we pray for personal physical needs without being me-centered? What does the Lord’s Prayer mean in practice?
When my son lay in a coma for a week I was not praying for his healing with some grand plan of God in mind. I was praying from pain because I love my son. Was that a Christ-centered prayer?
Is it proper to pray for miraculous supply if you screwed up and didn’t put it in the bank yourself? Jesus took care of the disciples tax bill, gave them 12 baskets of food, and filled their nets to the breaking point with fish.
Hezekiah prayed that his life would be spared. God changed his mind and gave the king 15 more years. I think in Isaiah it says that God received no benefit from it. (It is interesting to find out why.) Did Hezekiah’s prayer follow the pattern of “give us this day our daily bread” ?
Is it proper to pray for an over-abundance, for our cup to be “filled, pressed down, and overflowing”? Do you know examples of people who have had God personally answer their prayers in that way?
More pondering.
…(and Go Jackets. Does God enjoy a good football game?)
Good questions Bill, I was going to post something like that myself. When you are in pain, is it wrong to pray for either healing or a way to deal with it?
Bill- good questions.
I don’t have all or maybe none of the answers.
Prayer is a communication tool.
What do you think of Jesus asking for this cup to be taken away from me, but not My will but Yours be done?
My mom has told me a story of God providing… Our family did not have enough money for buying food the rest of the month. My mom prayed that God if you can provide milk, eggs, and bread that she would be able to make meals for our family for the rest of the month. The next day her prayers were answered. Three different people called and ask if we could use bread, milk or eggs. And if I recall right she had extra bread and milk that she froze that lasted almost another month.
He is also been providing for our family daily and monthly. It has been quite cool, awesome and humbling. But he has been providing exactly what we need each month and not a penny more. Ok maybe one or two pennies more, but not a dollar more. This situation we are in is our doing. But now that we are doing and at least very trying to be daily be what His plan is for our family is now. He is so providing for us.
Check your heart. Pray and ask.
Will He give to us in abundance? When we need it, truly need it I believe He does.
Keep praying, reading the Bible, and worshiping. That is how He communicates with us. And when we are in communion with Him, He will answer and give us peace.
I hope that helps.
Jesus teaching was both eternal and temporal – heavenly and local. He talked about being rich toward God, but He was not some mystic sitting on a rug denying his humanity or ours. Prayers have to mean something real. No, I believe it is perfectly right to pray for health, healing, wealth, even great wealth, wisdom, and success but with a twist – that God gets the glory and some very good return on his investment. (Parable of the Talents maybe?) That sounds crass, but He raises people up and casts them down for His purposes. I would rather willingly place my future in His hands than try to heap up His blessings for no good purpose except to give the IRS when I am gone. I want to be in on His plan.
What many, many my age are experiencing – I and my family are for one, is the breaking of verbal contracts and promises their employers made to them at the start. We were in that generation that transitioned from paternal employers who had good pension plans to support you if you worked for them for say 30 years, to “You are on your own, buddy. Here’s a plaque!” Many of us have lost virtually all our savings from that and the latest crash. That kind of cold reality clarifies your thinking. The false belief is trusting in any company or career or paper certificate to provide rather than looking to God. I have had to adjust what I thought my 60s to whenever would look like. It is not a bad thing at all. It is good. It puts God and Faith on the ground instead of merely as an abstract concept. I have no doubts God will provide, as he always has.