What comes to mind when you encounter a road sign that reads, "Rest Area Ahead"? For some a restroom break is envisioned, for others a chance to pick up some travel site brochures about the area, and for most the snack area for refreshments pops forefront and center. Coffee for the weary driver, soft drinks, chips, and a candy bar for the kids, and a wide assortment of other sweet and salty items for pretty much everyone young and old alike. We scan the glass encased options and settle on our choice. From there it's a matter of dropping in the correct financial obligation which in turn sets the machine into motion and instantly our snack drops down to the retrieval area. Presto, we get exactly what we want. That system works well for snacks and drinks, but for some folks, the vending machine mentality is how they anticipate their prayers and supplications should work with God.
With vending machines, we have a need, (hunger or thirst) and the vending machine can give us what we need to quench our thirst or curb our appetite. When we pray to God we have a need and we come to God to express our needs, concerns, and our pleas for His divine intervention. Along the way, we may thank Him, yet too often our prayers may appear to be similar to our encounters with a vending machine.
In the face of adversity or affliction, we turn to God for a solution to the adverse conditions we face, and in the midst of our afflictions we come to God with a prayer for healing from the illness or condition we or someone we love is facing. Not only is that our approach in our prayers to God, but after we go to God with our intercessions and supplications we want to step back and watch God put the machine into motion so we can retrieve our answered prayers much like the candy bar dropping down into the receiving area of the vending machine. Life would be far less complex if that were how things worked, but I would suggest that if life were that simple, we would not grow in our relationship and dependence on God to see us through life's ups and downs, ins and outs, and all of the valleys and peaks that we encounter throughout the journey created for us to travel.
The Apostle Paul provides us with a better picture of how we should approach God with our prayers in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Paul endured so many hardships and constant persecutions that it would have been easy for him to have walked up to God's vending machine and prayed for immediate relief from the afflictions he faced. Yet above the scripture from Galatians tells us that Paul realized he was no longer living his life for his own benefit, but instead Paul identified that he was living his life centered around trusting God and His plan. Living that life out to the fullest regardless of what he may have wanted in his flesh became Paul’s strength and focus.
Jesus faced a vending machine decision when he was facing the imminent reality that His life here on earth was about to come to an end. Jesus prayed to His father and asked God “... if you are willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.” Luke 22:42 When we develop our relationship with God we begin to realize that our prayers may not be in alignment with God's plans for our life. The hardships we face may be the stepping stones towards the victories that God has prepared if we are faithful, trust, and believe. What we perceive to be the best outcome in a situation may be a good answer for us, but for God's plan it may not even crack the surface of what will be accomplished if we are faithful and stand strong in trusting God's way.
Center your prayers not on what "you" want, but place your wants, needs, prayers, intercessions, and supplications in God's hands and submit to the call He has on your life and the purpose you will fulfill through His plans for your life. I am thankful that life is not a vending machine! I have grown through my adversity, I have learned to endure through my afflictions, and I continue to see more of God's purpose for this life He has given me to live through the trials and tribulations of this world. That is my prayer for you today. Instead of us asking God for the prayers we pray to be answered the way we want them to be answered, may we pray for God's hand to be on our lives and may we live out God's purpose for this life we are living. "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." II Corinthians 12:9-10.
Coach Carter
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