The Tooth Fairy and Prayer Problems
By Carolyn
Hulliberger
“You will seek me
and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Jeremiah
29:13 (NIV)
Dear
tooth fairy I have two huge favers. May I have a animal toy instead of dollars.
And
may I keep my tooth and still get a toy.
If
thats toatley not posbul I’d rather keep my tooth.
Best
of luck with your dilvers. (Child, Age 6)
While
this honest letter to the Tooth Fairy is cute, I have to admit that sometimes
my prayers to God sound a lot like it. One of my prayer problems is that I
politely approach Him with my earnest request, already working out all the
angles of how I would like to receive my desired outcome and suggestions on an
alternative course of action. All the while, keeping my fingers crossed that
God actually is listening in the first place.
How
easily I can overlook that our God is the Creator of the universe, from the
tiniest molecule to the vast galaxies above. Nothing is beyond His
capabilities!
Other
times, my prayer problem is the opposite…He is SO big, why would my situation
matter to Him at all? That is wrong thinking, as well.
In
The Message’s paraphrase of Matthew
7:7-11, Jesus says, “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you
need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child
asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you
scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think
of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you
think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?”
Unlike
the Tooth Fairy, God is our Heavenly Father, caring intimately about our needs
and want. He is the Creator who loves His created. Unlike that letter to the
Tooth Fairy, we need to 1. be aware of how we bring our requests to God and 2.
trust that He always cares. Jesus’ command to be direct and trust Him for what
He does is good advice to put into practice.
GOING DEEPER:
1.
This week, make the commitment to examine how your prayers to God sound. What
changes do you need to make?
2.
Change up your prayer time. If you normally pray silently, try praying out
loud, or writing/typing out your prayer.
FURTHER READING:
Along
with caring for her family, Carolyn works as an insurance representative,
serves in Oakwood Church’s Student Ministries with an awesome group of junior
high girls, and is the treasurer for Women’s Ministries.
