Prayer Is Not Magic

"What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." Joesph Scriven, 1855

Have you ever felt used? Has there ever been a time when the people who meant most to you - your best friend, girlfriend, homie, mother, brother, sister, father, baby's daddy - just let you down? They used you up and re-used you like a dollar store battery (I'm not talking about the rechargeable ones) then threw you in the trash and left your spirit out to dry. You know what I'm talking about. They sat you out there like a raisin in the sun - broke, dirty, dry, sick and salty. And then what did you do? You went to church like your momma taught you to do when times got rough. And you walked up to the altar during Altar Call. And you asked the preacher to pray for you because you had let things get so bad, bleak, bold and belligerent that you had forgotten how to pray for yourself. So the preacher prays and you leave the altar only to find yourself walking right back into the same situation that had you there in the first time.

You curse God and the preacher because things didn't go your way. You loose confidence in faith and you stray from the doors of the church. You think God didn't answer you prayer. You think God didn't hear your voice. And even if He did, you ask yourself why He didn't do anything to pull you out of that situation or prevent another one from occuring. Well, to tell you the truth my brother or my sister, sometimes God just says No. It doesn't mean that God doesn't hear your prayer. "No" is a valid answer too.

I John 5:14-15 tells us, "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him."

I remember those "Because I said so" days, years ago. You know what I'm talking about when you would go to the store with Momma or Grandma (I call her Momo) and you'd spot that great big action figure you want that you knew would make all the other kids jealous. Then you'd look at Momma and she would of course say "No!". And when you would make the mistake of asking "Why?", she would always give you that "look" followed by the familiar reply, "Because I said so!"

You always thought in your head (because you were too afraid to say it out loud) that "Because I said so" wasn't a good enough reason, but you never verbally questioned her authority because deep down inside you knew that she had your best interests at heart.

This is just like our relationship with God. God always has our bes interests at heart. But we have to adhere to His will. We have to have faith and trust that He has the power to answer all of our prayers and provide all of our needs. Sometimes, He will indeed say "No" to our wants, but it's only because He knows what's best for us. He knows what's in store for us in the future. Sometimes God does things "Because He said so" but rest assured that He'll never put more on you than you can bear. Nevertheless, He ALWAYS hears and answers prayer. (It's like part of His job description.)

Psalm 40:1 says "I waited patiently for the Lord; and He inclined unto me, and heard my cry."

But in order to recieve the fullness God's blessings (the answers to our prayers) we have to learn how to be patient.

With this, we visit the prophet Isaiah 40:31 who says, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

It tickles my nerves to hear people complain time and time again how they have prayed and they have prayed to a God who seemed deaf. Looking at it from their perpective, I suppose it's like calling 9-1-1 in the midst of an emergency and hanging up before anyone has a chance to answer the phone. All they had to do was wait a few more seconds and help would be on the way. People today always want things in a hurry. With everything from Broadband to Blackberries to Bluetooth it might seem that the race is in fact being given to the swift. Patience has begun to loose its purpose. Through all of this tehnological media megaspectacle what we've really failed to do is wait on the Lord.

We get down on our knees at night. We make our way up to the altar on Sunday morning. We pray once. We pray again, but we expect God to work like a light switch - "clap on, clap off." We expect God to hurry up and grant us our wishes the very moment we open our eyes and finish the prayer. We want Him to bless us when it's most convenient. We have this tumultous tendency to try to fit God into our busy schedule. What if God tried to "fit us in" when it was most convenient for Him? We esily forget that God created time and He too has a schedule. We have become conditioned to a sinful spirit of convenience, leisure, and luxury. But we cannot go to God like this. How can we expect God to respond to us when we don't come at Him correctly? But thankfully, God still answers prayer. The song says "What a privilege it is to carry everything God in prayer!" God does not work when WE want Him to work. God is not a magician; prayer is not magic! Let me explain the difference.

Magic is the systematic conception of a practice that asserts the human ability to control or alter the natural or physical world. Magic is supernatural, paranormal, psychological, and mystical. In other words, magic is when people start saying things in hopes that their words will change nature. Magic lacks one thing - faith!

Prayer, on the other hand, is the practice of using language to speak to a higher power with faith that the being will, in time, answer your call. You see, there is no God in magic. Magic is dependent on the individual. Prayer, however, is dependent on faith.

This may be difficult to digest and hard to understand. But prayer and magic are two different things. Prayer depends on you to trust that God will pick you up when you fall, renew your strength and mount you up on wings like eagles to run and not be weary, walk and not faint! You cannot just say some fancy incantation, snap your fingers and expect the Almighty God to show up like a butler at your every whim. This God, the God of Abraham, Moses, King and Obama, does not reside in some intricate lamp in some desert. This God does not show as a head up in any crystal balls. My God might not show up when I want Him to, but He's always right on time. He alwys answeres my prayers in my best interests. The God I serve does not serve me. I was created to magnify Him!

To recieve God's blessings, we must not rush His work. He knows exactly what's on our hearts and our minds. Actually, He's already fixed it! But you have to believe it. Claim it. That blessing is yours!

Pray with me.
Our Father and our God, when I, in awesome wonder, consider all you've done for me, I pray that you would keep me in your loving arms. I know I've strayed from the path you've laid down for me in your Word time and time again and I aknowledge the fact that you've made me over time and time again. Through it all, Lord you've never left my side. Although I don't deserve it, you keep on blessing me, time and time again. There is nothing more I can ask for so I just come to you in humble thanks. Thank you for everything you have done for me then, now, and in advance. Lord you are the source of my strength. Because of you, I have hope and joy. Because of your grace and your mercy and your forgiveness, I can sit here and tell thank you. Your love covered me even though I neglected you. You never gave up on me and from this point on, I promise to never again give up on you Lord. Thank you for giving your only son, Christ Jesus, for the purpose of my salvation. It is in that most high name that I pray. Amen.