Several years ago the Lord gave me the word, “Spiritual Shopping Spree.”
Perhaps there is someone in the universe who looks down on shopping sprees. “Sure they sound nice but shopping sprees can be exhausting. You’re given a few thousand dollars to freely spend but you still have to push the cart up and down the isles, make decisions about what to get, then push that heavy cart out to your car.”
I’ve found similar attitudes when it comes to prayer. “Sure Jesus says, ‘I will do whatever you ask in my name’ (John 14:13). But you still have to push the shopping cart, make the decisions about what you want and load up, and haul it home. And besides, what if you load up your cart just to find God won’t let you out of the store with it. It’s better not to pray, that way you will never be disappointed.”
Religious Lawyers come out as we pray to make sure we don’t ask the gracious Father too much, or expect too much from Him. They don’t want us to be disappointed when prayers are not answered.
They warn us that there are many qualifiers to Jesus’ generous offers. They go through lots of tiny print which no one else can find in the scriptures. They assure us that God answers prayer occasionally, and they have personally heard of it happening, but just don’t expect too much. They protect God from requests which are too big, and protect us from disappointment.
God has been slandered and portrayed as a miserly father, either unable or unwilling to keep His promises. “He plays bate and switch with us. Since he can always find fault in us He doesn’t need to keep His promises.”
O, that His name would once again be hollowed as the generous father, so faith will again find His promises realized! The Father of Lights is the generous giver of gifts. Awakening to Fresh Faith!
Jesus really meant what He said about prayer!
Don’t pass up the spiritual shopping spree!
Steven C Johnson
Landingstripenterprise.com
