So about one week ago I received a letter many of you probably received as well. It was from some church based in Tulsa, Oklahoma that wanted to give me a free cross which was supposedly blessed specifically for me! Included in this letter was a poster sized “prayer rug” with a huge picture of what was supposedly the face of Jesus…a face with eyes closed and a blood teardrop falling from one of his eyes! I was directed to immediately take this rug somewhere where I could be alone and then kneel on it and pray. Supposedly, all my wishes would then come true because the genie in the bottle…oh wait, I mean Jesus…has promised me every financial and spiritual blessing I can possible desire. This must be somewhere in Genesis 51, right?
On the outside of the envelope was the following prayer:
Dear Jesus,
We pray that you will bless someone in this home spiritually, physically & financially. And please dear Lord, bless the one who’s hands open this letter. Make good changes in this one’s life and give them the desires of their heart. We pray over and bless this letter in your holy name. Amen.
Huh? Where do people come up with this type of babble?
Worst of all though, within this envelope was a taped up letter which purported to be a prophecy I should not read until I’d returned a list of my prayers to this “church.” Oh, and if I was especially lacking in brain matter, I could also give some money to this “church”, I assume the money was so that my prayers would be more rapidly answered! I won’t tell you what was included in this “prophetic” letter because it was full of demonic trash about opening yourself up to some spirit and so you could be “infused in a divine manner.”
Sorry, I don’t think so. I’m already infused with the Holy Spirit and need no counterfeit “divinity” in my life!
The reason I wanted to write this post, however, is because as I read the contents of this letter I was struck first with sadness as I thought of all the simple minds that will be deceived by these workers of iniquity from Tulsa. Also though, I was upset that God’s name would be mocked by these people, that His glorious reputation would be taken advantage of…but then I had to stop and think. Wait a minute…what is so different between these deceivers and the ones within our so called evangelical churches today?
Do you understand what I mean?
How many conservative churches today subscribe to a prosperity message? How many teach that if you only pray with faith your wishes will be granted? I could share many stories of people I know who believe that if you only pray hard enough you will get what you want…as if God were some celestial genie just wanting to release His power upon you….as if Christ came to seek and save that which was poverty stricken rather than that which was lost!
You know what? Such a foolish and arrogant attitude makes a mockery of the faith of our brothers and sisters in Asia, the Middle East, and other areas where persecution, including death, are the norm. What prosperity are they receiving? Well from the world’s perspective they are seeing nothing…but what spiritual blessings they probably have! And what crowns they will be able to present to our Lord! Brothers and sisters…WE are the poverty stricken ones! We in the West are the ones lacking in true prosperity!
I know I have written of this before…but one of my favorite passages comes from Daniel 3. Do you remember that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to bow down before the image which King Nebuchadnezzar had built? The King, who had honored these friends of Daniel by making them governors of sorts in Babylon (Daniel 2:49), had them brought before him:
“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter, if that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
Daniel 4:14-18
Now in this case, God chose to intervene in a miraculous way and saved these men from the furnace. But other times, God chooses not to act to save His children. The important thing is that our attitudes be as these men…God CAN save us, but if He chooses not to, we still will serve only Him!
When God does not act to reward your faith or your prayers it is not because you have not had enough faith, or prayed hard enough…it is because it was not His will to do so. Deal with it.
Better yet, praise Him for it!
Amen?
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