Watch out what you ask for!

AM Psalm 88 • PM Psalm 91, 92
Isa. 61:1-9 • 2 Tim. 3:1-17 • Mark 10:32-45

“We want you to do for us whatever we ask of you” (Mark 10:35b). James and John present Jesus with a big demand. Or maybe we say it like this, “Jesus, grant me exactly what I am asking for and oh by the way, I am going to tell you how to do it. And Jesus, I know what is best for me.” Are we like James and John asking Jesus for exactly what we want?

How often do we pray like that? Outlining for Jesus exactly what we want and how He can do it. How often do our petitions and supplications become more like demands and instructions? Woody Allen described this kind of prayer, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans.” We often walk that fine line between petition and demand.

In the case of James and John I would say, “Watch what you wish for!” Jesus tells them “You do not know what you are asking.” And Jesus also tells us, we don’t know what we are asking. God has a plan for us. He can see possibilities for us that we can not even imagine. “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard…what God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor 2:9).

It is a huge step to trust God to answer our prayers according to His plan not ours. We always want to be in control. And maybe that is what Jesus means when he says, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” Giving that control to God, to His plan for us, makes us His servant and gives that precious control to Him. We trust that God will answer our prayers but maybe they will be answered not in the way we planned. Trusting in His plan for us we will see His unexpected answer.

We pray as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will but yours be done”!

Written by Chris Schaefer

In this time of solitude, chosen or forced, I look to pray that I can give over to God the control I find so hard to give. A definite work in progress!