Tom took his children to a restaurant. His six-year-old son, Alex, asked if he could be the one to offer the prayer. As the family bowed their heads, Alex began his prayer seriously, “God is great… God is good… Thank you for this food…” and then he tacked on “And I would even thank you more if Dad got us ice cream for dessert! And liberty and justice for all. Amen.”
A customer nearby began to laugh at Alex’s prayer. One older woman remarked aloud, “That’s what’s wrong with this world. Kids today don’t know the proper way to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never!”
Hearing her remark, Alex’s face clouded over and he asked his dad, “Is God mad at me?” Tom assured his son that he had done a terrific job and that God was certainly not mad at him. A man from another table came up to Tom and Alex. He winked at Alex and said, “I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer!”
“Really?” Alex asked. “Cross my heart.” And then in a loud whisper, the man said, “Too bad she doesn’t ask God for ice cream. Everyone knows that ice cream is good for the soul.” The man went back to his table. At this point, Tom knew he had no choice but to get ice cream for all of his kids. When Alex’s ice cream came, he looked at it a moment and then picked it up and without a word delivered to the woman. With a big smile he told her, “Here, this is for you. Ice cream is good for the soul, and my soul is good already.”
“Be Careful What You Pray For” is not a quote from the Bible, but it certainly references “the moral to the Biblical story”. Many stories in the Bible speak of a prayer said by someone and then the explanation of what happened. As the reader, we have the benefit of looking in on the story and finding out what happened as a result of that prayer.
The psalmist begins, “Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good; God’s love endures forever.” So here’s the rub. Do you give only theological assent to that belief, or do you truly believe it in the real world of your everyday life?
Quite often, when the Israelites’ collective belief was put to the test, it failed. In this psalm, the writer details Israel’s sad history of unbelief as God led them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land. Along the way, God performed some of the mightiest miracles of all time – the ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, the Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night, manna to eat every single morning for 40 years – that’s just a few. At every step, God’s miraculous and more-than-enough provision sustained the people.
Yet, Israel was still dissatisfied. So – and you won’t believe this – the people griped and complained, they lusted for other things, they tested God, and their leader Moses, at every turn in the bend. As a result, the Bible says that God decided to put them to the test as well, to see what was truly in their hearts. And here’s how God tested them: by giving them what they incessantly insisted upon!
Praise the Lord!
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty doings of the Lord
or declare all his praise?
Happy are those who observe justice,
who do righteousness at all times.
Remember us,[a] O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help us[b] when you deliver them,
that we may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that we may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that we may glory in your heritage.
Psalm 106:1-5
There is something awesome, something even dangerous about prayer! Psalm 106 is a poetic description of the Israelites’ inward poverty despite their outward wealth. And when the children of Israel got what they wanted, the lustily, greedily, indulgently consumed it until it made them deathly sick – literally! The Message translation puts it this way: “God gave them exactly what they asked for – but along with it they got an empty heart.”
It is a spiritual and sobering reminder that what we desperately want may not be what we desperately need. This story says that there comes a point when God will say, “Fine. Have it your way.”
Marjorie Thompson, in the book “Soul Feast”, calls prayer “willing God’s will.” No matter how things turn out, we pray that we will be given peace and understanding to know that God’s will is done in our lives. It’s a clear message in the Biblical text that prayer can be dangerous.
In Psalm 106, the psalmist writes that the people had “a wasting in their being.” (106:15). The King James Version translates it as “a leanness in their souls.” The Hebrew term here, nefesh, can mean a variety of things including the person and soul and being. Its when our desires so overtake us that our prayers become a testing of God.
Be careful what you ask for, because you just might get it. Be careful what you ask for, because you’re going to have to work for it. Be careful what you ask for, because the power of God is not to be taken lightly.
Let’s apply this to our nation. What have we prayed for as a nation? To be the greatest, wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth? We got what we prayed for. Yet… are we satisfied?
Let’s apply this to our church. What have we prayed for as a church?
• If you prayed for more children, did you also agree to be a Sunday School teacher?
• If you prayed for more people to come, did you also invite your friends and co-workers to come?
• If you prayed that we would meet our budget, did you consider what you could give?
We might get what we pray for… and will we be satisfied?
Let’s apply this to our homes and our families. What have we prayed for? And are we satisfied?
Prayer is, for the Christian, life itself. It is an opening of our eyes and our hearts to the world around us. Prayer is listening carefully enough to become aware of the conversation already taking place deep within. Brother Lawrence expanded this idea of prayer as a dialogue, making his whole life an invitation to God to keep emotional company with him.
Alfred North Whitehead calls this discerning a “prehending” – experiencing imaginative feeling as God lures each unique situation to fullness. Others compare it to “midwifing” – standing on the edge of the future as the imagination falls in love with the not-yet.
None of these great pray-ers suggested that regular prayer is asking God for favors, blessings, outcomes, and so forth. They all spoke of prayer as an inner state of being in God’s presence. Perhaps that’s because they knew the truth –
“Be careful what you pray for… you might just get it.”
Pastoral Prayer
Almighty and loving God, we gather before you today, not just with our spoken words, but with our hearts' deepest longings and our most vulnerable thoughts. Thank you for being present with us, and thank you for the gift of prayer—a sacred time to reorient ourselves to you, our center and our true home.
We praise you, for you are our refuge and our strength, our present help in times of trouble. We confess that in our busy lives, we can become so caught up in what others are doing that we forget to seek your presence continually. We admit our failings and our doubts, our imperfections and shortcomings, knowing we have not always been who we are called to be in Christ. Forgive us for when we have loved the world and ignored Your word, and for when we have thought too much of ourselves.
We offer the joys and concerns of our lives to you now. We pray for those who are in pain, for those who are ill, for those who grieve, and for those who feel alone and neglected. We ask that you would bless this gathering of your people, that we may grow and flourish in your love and grace.
Give us, we pray, the courage to be the people you have called us to be—people who seek justice and peace through your love for all of your people. Open our eyes to the opportunities to show your love to others. Nudge us back toward you, Holy One, and help us to listen for your still small voice amidst the many distractions of our lives.
As we move forward from this time of prayer, may we remember that we are your children, called to our purpose in your world. Hear our prayers, those spoken and those hidden in our hearts, for we are yours, and all our hope is in you.