The Vending Machine God by Llyod W. Cary
Little 10-year-old Tommy knelt down to pray. “OK, God,” he said, “I’m going to give You a chance to prove Yourself. I really want to believe in you, God. So when I wake up in the morning, if there is a million dollars under my bed, I’ll know You’re real and I’ll never doubt You again.”
Guess what? Tommy didn’t get the million dollars! But why not?
Perchance it was because he wanted the money more than he wanted God. Conceivably, too, it was because he expected it in one dollar bills and it couldn’t fit under his crowded bed. Perhaps Tommy assembled several out-of-context texts and misapplied them.
Almost certainly, though, the reason Tommy did not get the million dollars had more to with a mistaken idea about God. Tommy imagined God to be like a coin operated candy machine—you deposit a prayer, push the right buttons, and poof!—your wish is fulfilled. He imagined God to be some kind of a Father Christmas figure who waited somewhere in space just waiting for Tommy’s prayer. Perhaps Tommy thought if he prayed enough and believed hard enough, God would deliver the goods.
That’s plausible for a child. Unfortunately, many people carry their “Vending Machine God” concept into adulthood with even greater expectations. “God, raise my deceased mother to life.” “God, let me win the billion-dollar lottery.” “God, give me a new car, a new home, and, oh yes, the perfect mate.” “Gimme, gimme, gimme” and so on. These kinds of prayers usually go no higher than the ceiling. The apostle Paul asks, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonor?” (Romans 9:21)
Spiritual Prayer Coins?
If our prayers were spiritual coins, how big a “prayer coin” should you use, for example, for a new bicycle or car? Would 10 or 15 minutes of prayer be enough receive an answer? A week? A month? Be assured, it does not work that way.
God usually answers prayers in one of three ways: Sometimes, God says “Yes” right away. Sometimes, He says “No, that would not be good for you.” And sometimes He will say, “Not yet. Wait awhile; that will be fulfilled later”—perhaps in the Millennium.
Sometimes our perspective of God can be a bit skewed. To some, God appears to be like a gigantic vending machine, casually dispensing spiritual gifts and talents by our requests. But God is much more than just a vending machine!
God is not an automaton. Prayer is not currency. It is more than wishing. Prayer is a father/son or father/daughter relationship. Some may quote Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” We must consider the context.
God loves to answer prayers. He even promises, “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24).
But prayer is not a “magic coin” to be inserted into a spiritual vending machine, and faith is not a button you push and hope for the best. God is not your personal butler who submits to your every wish and whim. What is the balance? No matter how hard 10-year-old Tommy prayed for a million dollars, no matter how fervently he believed, he would not have found it under his bed the next morning. But not because God doesn’t love him. Not because God doesn’t answer prayer. Not because there was no room under his bed. The million bucks never came because Tommy was not really praying; he was coveting and wishing. Contrary to the “Father Christmas” myth, God is not some heavenly vending machine for the dispensing of gifts and favors.
Our heavenly Father transcends our petty wishes. He is Almighty God. He is love incarnate. He wants us to love Him, not things. He does not want to give us things that would not be good for us.
God has a Plan for you and for all people. It is revealed through His Sabbath and holy days. (Send for our free booklet, God’s Seasonal Plan [GSP].)
In the meantime, God has a purpose in your life. He has demands and expectations of you. He may be testing you patience, your obedience, or your faith. As His begotten son or daughter, He wants us to grow, change, and overcome, to put on the mind of Christ—to develop godly character. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” (Philippians 2:5).
Knocking Off the Rough Edges Do we sometimes have a few “rough edges” in our character that need to be refined? God knows just how to knock them off. Why? “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7, KJV).
We need to allow God to form and shape us after His image. “But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isaiah 64:8). God is not finished with you yet! David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22) and wrote, “O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day” (Psalm 119:97).
There are those who would label this “legalism.” False premise! I want to be legal with God, don’t you? “For this IS [Bible definition] the love of God, that we KEEP his commandments: and his commandments are NOT grievous” (1 John 5:3). Do love and obey God’s commandments? All ten of them?
God’s Word tells us, “EXAMINE YOURSELVES, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates (2 Corinthians 13:5)? Request our free reprint article, Which Old Testament Laws Apply Today? [OTL] and our free CD, Is the Law Only for the Jews? [C915].
We need to divest ourselves of the childish “Vending Machine God” concept and “STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). “Watch ye therefore, AND PRAY ALWAYS, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36).
Some people would like prayer with NO CONDITIONS. They prefer God to be some kind of a celestial genie—a “Vending Machine God”—who, when summoned by prayer, must grant any request they make, and the sooner the better, or He is not God at all! In effect, they want to control God, making Him our servant.
To learn more about God and what your part can be in His plan for man, be sure to request our free booklets, Twelve Things God Cannot Do, and Things To Do While Waiting For Jesus to Return [WFI]. You’ll be surprised!
Avoid the Vending Machine God Mentality
Don’t let your perspective of God be skewed. One man angrily thumped his Bible and declared, “God owes me!” He acted as though the vending machine cheated him out of his money. But God is not a vending machine. Prayer is not spiritual currency. Our relationship to God is not a matter of master and machine.
There are certain conditions we must meet before our prayers will be answered!
The Seven Conditions to Answered Prayer
1. Seek God’s Will (Matthew 6:10; Luke 22:42)
2. Believe God (John 14:1; Matthew 21:22)
3. Be Fervent (James 5:16; Acts 18:25)
4. Be Fearful and Humble (2 Chronicles 34:27; Isaiah 66:2)
5. Be Persistent (Psalm 55:17; Luke 18:5)
6. Be Obedient (1 Proverbs 28:9; John 3.22 )
7. Correct Use of Christ’s Name (John 15:7; 16:23)
If you follow theses seven conditions consistently and from the heart, you will find that many more of your prayers will be heard and answered by a loving, caring, considerate divine Being who wants to grant our prayer requests!
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