“Bargaining with God is pointless. He already has a thousand followers that will do what you bargained to do for free.” ~ Shannon L. Alder
When was the last time you attempted to bargain with God? People have many names for these sorts of prayers, e.g., plea bargain prayers, fox hole prayers, barter prayers, desperation prayers, etc.; the problem with all of these prayers is they lack honesty and surrender. “God, if you get me out of this, I will do this in exchange.” It’s a pathetic attempt of a quid pro quo, but in this case, I would call it a “God pro quo.” “God, if you will do this, I will do that.”
God is not Santa Claus!
Believe it or not, God doesn’t need you to change the world but desires nothing more than for you to surrender all and help advance God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. For God’s will to be done, it means you must offer yours. There is no “this for that.” God is God, and you are not! I can’t tell you how many times in my life, especially when I was living totally in the dark, that I cried out these types of meaningless prayers. “God, if you get me out of this jam, I promise I will never do it again.” I said these types of prayers so many times that I had to start adding this ending to my prayers, “and this time, I mean it.”
When I surrendered and my prayer became my honest, my entire life changed. God’s impact on my life was immediate and apocalyptic. I didn’t spiritually wake up to this truth for some time, but when I reflect, from the moment I said, “God Help Me,” and meant it, my whole world changed, it was a sudden and profound response to a cry for help from one of God’s kids. My prayer had to become sincere and filled with surrender. There was no more God pro quo; it was “God here is my life, I am powerless and hopeless, please forgive me and change me.”
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, let me encourage you to toss the God pro quo idea from your toolkit and replace it with a surrendered soul and honest prayer. There is an excellent quote from an anonymous book that goes like this, “God doesn’t make too hard of terms for those who honestly seek God.”
Remember the words of Jesus:
“7 “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7 CEB)
God of mercy and grace, please forgive me for trying to manipulate and force Your hand out of my selfishness. On this day, I honestly surrender my will and life over to You. Please remove any junk that prohibits me from entirely abandoning myself to You. Please heal me of my inequities and use my life to help change the world. In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. May Your will not mine always materialize, now and forever. Amen.
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