When some people pray to God, they not only present their request to Him, they also instruct Him on how He is supposed to take care of it.  That sounds a little presumptuous and arrogant, don’t you think?  Of course no one would ever admit that they are engaged in ordering the Almighty around, but that’s really what they are doing.

Far too often we think that we see the only possible solution.  So, we petition God with our request, and add the solution to the prayer.  This is what I need, and this is how and when to get it done.  Have we forgotten that He is still God Almighty?

Remember the story in the Bible of the woman whose husband died leaving her and two sons with some debt?  In that culture, it was legal for the creditor to come and take away the two sons and have them work until the debt was paid off.  That scenario would of course been disastrous for the widow.

What Can She Possibly Do Now?

She needed money to pay that debt.  And again, in that culture, she couldn’t just go out and get a job.  She certainly was not going to get a “bail out” from the government!

So how was she to acquire the funds necessary to pay off the debt? The solution that God provided was so far outside of the nine dots that it is truly remarkable.  The man of God told her exactly what to do.

The only thing of value that she had was a little bit of olive oil in a cruse.  The first part of the solution was to borrow as many empty vessels as she could.  The second part of the solution was to then fill those empty vessels from her little cruse of oil.

The miracle was that she kept filling and filling until all the empty vessels were filled with oil.  The third part of the solution was to sell the oil.  The money she received was enough to pay all the debt, and, she had enough left over for her and her sons to live.

What About You?

Of course someone might say, “Well, that’s nice for her, but God would certainly never do something like that for me today.”  For those who choose to think that way and believe that way, they are right. He won’t.

Why do we choose to live outside of the supernatural?  Why do we dismiss the miraculous?  Why do we limit God by simply putting Him into a box that we have designed?

The God of the Bible is still today a God of unlimited resources and endless possibilities.  Do we believe that He has run out of His ability to provide solutions?  Do we propose that the only solutions He has are solutions that we can conceive?

Unfortunately, some people’s prayer life has become simply giving God orders.  These people tell God what the situation is, and then they tell Him how He is supposed to fix it.  And when He doesn’t comply, people get discouraged and think that He no longer answers prayers.

Stop Ordering Him Around!

We are instructed in Scriptures to tell God what our need is.  We are to let Him know our requests.  We are to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us.  But does it say we are to then tell Him how and when to answer?

It is always a great joy to me in my life when God answers a prayer in a way that I would have never considered.  Every time it happens I am reminded once again that God is almighty; He is a God of endless solutions and possibilities.

I’m not saying that God will always answer a prayer in a way that you would have never imagined.  But the point is, we need to let God be God and allow Him to do His part however He sees fit. Our part is to pray, to ask, and to let Him know what we need.  We pray and believe that He will answer our prayer.

If we truly believe and have confidence in God to answer our prayers, then we look for and expect an answer with patience.  We have our eyes open for possibilities and solutions that we may have never have even imagined.

No matter what situation you may be in, never doubt God’s ability.  He has unlimited resources.  He has solutions that you have never even dreamed of.  He is, after all, God Almighty.

Mike Verdicchio
2012

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