Have you ever spent prayer time trying to sell God on your plans and goals; trying to get Him on board to support them? You may have even tried to negotiate with God; “If you do this for me, Lord, then I will…” I admit my guilt and I think most of us have done that at some time in our Christian life. It probably comes about because we think of God as our heavenly Father and then remember our attempts to manipulate our parents when we were children. God is a loving Father, but unlike an earthly parent, He is also all knowing, all powerful and always in complete control. His will power is far superior to our sales pitch or ability to persuade; not to mention the fact that His plans and goals for us are much better than anything we come up with on our own.
The right attitude for Christians to have when approaching our heavenly Father in prayer is humble obedience. “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.” (1 Peter 5:6) During the Civil War, a reporter asked President Lincoln, “What makes you so sure God is on your side?” Abe Lincoln humbly responded, “My concern is not if God is on my side; my primary concern is that I am on God’s side, because His side is always right.” We can’t know God’s side unless we ask Him in prayer, search His written word and then get on board and support His plan and goal for us. We have the Holy Spirit within us. However, as I heard a preacher say recently; “The Holy Spirit is our guide and not our ride. He is not our spiritual Uber driver taking us wherever we want to go.” He is our guide through the mine field of life to where God wants us to be.
On a side note; the two verses following the one I quoted above are very interesting. After humbling ourselves Peter tells us to, “Give all your worries and cares to God, because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7) It is a very familiar verse of scripture that is often quoted on its own. But then Peter tells us, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Is it just me or does it seem like Peter is telling us to give all of our worries to God and then he gives us something to worry about? It reminds me of when I was a young boy and my mother would say, “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.” It is a proven fact and my own experience that most of the things we worry about never happen. I think what Peter is telling first century believers (and us), is to turn those uncertain worries over to God so we aren’t distracted from the real and present danger our enemy presents for us.