When Prayer Becomes a Wish List

Psalm 78:18

¹⁸ They stubbornly tested God in their hearts,
    demanding the foods they craved.

At Christmas time, we all want that certain gift. As children, we write letters to Santa and drop hints to those around us. On Christmas morning, we open all of our gifts and are overjoyed by the one gift we asked for, or somewhat disappointed because we did not get “that” gift.

If we are not careful, our prayers and expectations of God moving in our lives can be like Christmas-time gifts. If we do not see it happen, then we go into a funk and doubt God, and wonder if He really does work in our lives or even cares.

The next step in this chain of thoughts comes when we start to doubt God with the small stuff, like if He hears our prayers. It grows into a passive relationship with God, to the point where you grumble and complain, stating, “Where is God?”

The Israelites did this with God many times. You cannot see the moving of God if you are complaining about your place in life. Moses instructed the people to humble themselves and pray first, and then you will see God move.

Verse 18 is where most of us are. We willingly put God to the test, demanding the very things we crave. Instead of demanding things in your life from God, try to remember the things He has done. If you cannot remember any, find an older person or anyone else and have them tell you their testimony. In doing this, we are obeying what God told Moses to do, command everyone to tell of the great and mighty things the Lord has done for you in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the Promised Land. If you cannot find anything in your life worth rejoicing over, then rejoice over how God is moving in your friend’s life. Turning your focus on the grace of God and His mercy in our lives is the first step to stop demanding what we crave.

Prayer: Father, help us stop praying the things we crave and making our prayers into a Christmas list for God. I pray that, in turn, we would thank Him for all the wonderful things He has given us and stand on the promises of the Word of God, instead of praying a Christmas list for the Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.