magic vending machine

Friday May 28th, John 14: 12"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. I have often heard this message as the magic vending machine in the sky. We ask, that is we ask properly and while attending the right church and believing the right doctrine and voting the right way, and bingo, we get what we want from Jesus. Put in your prayers, pull the lever and Jesus does your bidding. This theology is a shell game however and the only thing that works is the illusion that you are in control and the grace of a loving God who doesn’t zap you for playing those stupid games once again. It is not as if the scripture isn’t full of examples of this type of narcissistic gamblers fallacy. The point of prayer is not so much asking for what we want, but asking from the deep need within for a healthy relationship with God. What we find when we seek relationship is that what we ask for is God’s plan all along.