Day 9: Bargaining with God

"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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:7-11

I have always like Matthew 7:7 Ask and it will be given to you. God is all powerful and grants the desires of our heart, yet I do believe I have used this as more of a bargaining tool than anything. I have prayed the prayers in crisis, asking God to come through one more time and I will never put myself in that position again. He comes through and I find myself right back where I started. He always proves to be faithful even when I am not. Still scratching my head on that one.

That Brennan Manning quote has been stuck in my head for weeks now and it reminds me that God will never forsake me even when I don't hold up my end of the bargain. So in essense, why try to manipulate God? He knows my heart and mind when I come to Him in prayer, so why even try to make these grand gestures when I know I will still fall short of His glory? That's been something that has been kinda weighing on my mind. I don't need to put on this front for God when I come to Him because He knows my every thought and every desire. He just wants me to come to Him naked, unashamed and with boldness. I don't need to be afraid to come to Him with anything. I sometimes thinks He gets a kick out of it when I do become transparent with Him because that's when He says "You finally did it." That's when I get my greatest peace and rest. That's when I see Him move the most.

Why is it so hard to stay in a state of transparency with Him all the time? I know what it feels like when I lay all of my burdens at His feet and the pleasure He gets when I come to Him boldly with things. So why don't I do that all the time? Hmmm. I think sometimes I try to rationalize and understand how great He really is and put limits on His infinite power. His thoughts are not my thoughts so my scope of understanding pale in comparison to what He can do. When I start wondering if I should bring something to Him, I am placing limits on what I think He can do. I start trying to disect things and that's when the bargaining begins. I come to Him thinking, "If you just handle this little part of my problem, then I can handle the rest." God wants me to come to Him and simple say "Here it is." He wants me to be obedient to the Matthew 7:7 command: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Such a powerful, yet simple statement. Ask God for what you need and watch Him work.