Vending Machine Prayer

Tefillah (Heb. תפילה; te-feel-ah) is the Hebrew word for prayer. To judge or analyze oneself before God.

Prayer is the backbone of our relationship with God. Prayer is what keeps us upright. If our prayer life suffers, our relationship with God slouches. And as poor posture impacts your bodily and motor functions, so too the posture of your prayer life has an extended impact on the rest of your faith journey.

The question I pose to my readers this week is not whether or not you pray, but how do you pray? If you were to define "prayer," would you use the definition for Tefillah above? Go back and read it again...

What do you think? Probably not. I know I wouldn't have used it a few years ago. Would this be a more relatable definition below?

Prayer - to beg, supplication towards God

The next time you pray, I challenge you to write out your prayer on a piece of paper, or open up an app and record it. Read or listen to it again. Do it one more time. Then try to figure out how much of your communication with God is you asking Him for things and how much of it is you taking interest in God and inquiring as to what God wants? I know the answer for me was surprising at first. I found that my prayers were heavily centered around my safety and comfort. Maybe that doesn't sound too strange. After all, isn't that why we pray to God? Aren't we supposed to ask God to keep us safe and bless us and keep us healthy/comfortable/happy and hope that hears us?

Those who know me well, know that I encourage prayer and that I'm always willing to pray with others. But in my experience, most people will only ask for prayer when they need something from God or when they have a problem. This is OK. I want to make it clear that I think its OK to pray when you have a pressing need or specific problem, because what I'm about to say next might not sound popular. The truth is - this cannot be the only time we pray and it cannot be the only WAY we pray. If we treat God like a vending machine - money goes in, chips and candy come out - then what type of relationship are we building with Him?

How we pray to God is very important. Jesus, being raised Jewish, would have been familiar with Tefillah. It would have been the primary way in which He communicated with His Father. Jesus would often retreat to lonely places to spend time with God. Before Jesus was baptized, He spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness fasting and praying. I'm not saying to specifically go do that, but let's think about what He was doing. He was taking the time to align Himself with His Father's will. He chose to fast as a way to become more reliant on God. Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God as a means of preparation for what was to come next.

We don't have a full account of what Jesus did for the entirety of those 40 days or what Him and His Father conversed about. But what we do see is that Jesus left the wilderness ready and able to fulfill God's plan for His life. It was only then that Jesus was able to start preaching and sharing the Gospel. Tefillah became his training. So when I think of Tefillah, I think of right-setting oneself with the LORD, looking inwardly, and submitting ourselves wholly to God's will so that we can be used by Him. And we should want to be used by God - Moses was used by God to free the slaves in Egypt. Nehemiah was used by God to rebuild and restore Jerusalem. Jonah was used by God to bring a great number of people to repentance. We should be praying that God would use us otherwise, what are we following Him for? John the Baptist said it best...

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

It's unnatural for someone who decides to follow Christ to then turn around and ask God to follow them wherever they want to go. Are you leading God or is God leading you? Our prayer life needs to be centered around a relationship with God where we are following Him, not the other way around. Sadly, it's too common that I see people begging God for the same thing over and over, only to miss out that He's going in a different direction. Don't get me wrong, or God for that matter, because He loves you. Just like a parent would withhold something from a child because they are not ready or maybe not even really in need of it, God doesn't always give us what we ask Him to. If we think of God like a vending machine, we're going to treat God the same way as we would a vending machine. If we put a coin in and the chips don't come out then we kick it, shake it, and get frustrated with it. But God isn't a machine. He's not a Magic 8 ball. He's not a genie that grants wishes. He's not a fountain that we throw coins into. He's not a wizard. There's nothing we can do to bend God towards our will. There are no incantations, spells, magic words, scriptures, rituals or anything that can change how He feels or what He is going to do. God has spoken His Word and He has made a promise and it will all be fulfilled whether we agree with Him or not.

Our communication with God must be about where He is going next and how we can get there with Him. What is He asking us to do? Don't worry, He promises us that if we seek Him first, He will take care of us. So if you're facing a problem today or you have a specific need, lay it down at His feet and prayerfully pursue the One who loves you more than you can ever fathom. Remember, pursue Him. Just Him.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:25-33)