Two Extremes

“You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” –James 4:2-3

There tend to be two extremes in Christian circles when it comes to ‘getting stuff’: people who tend to be overly self-reliant, and those who think that God will give them anything they ask of him, like he’s Santa on steroids. Neither extreme is healthy. So, let’s take a glance at each one and figure out a remedy.

First, extreme self-reliance. There is nothing wrong with hard work, but along with it often comes a tendency to forget that no matter how hard we work, if it weren’t for God we wouldn’t have it. He supplies every breath we take and every drop of water that we drink. Yet so often we let our pride get in the way and forget that. One of the ways that I have found to combat this in my life is to force myself to thank God for very specific things when I pray. When we bless the food, we remember that no matter how hard we worked for our money, it is still God who provided, and we thank him for that. When we come to this realization, we can begin to ask God for what we do not yet have, understanding that if we are to have it, it will come from him and not from us.

The second extreme is also rooted in pride. This ‘Jesus is my Sugar Daddy’ view doesn’t have a problem asking for things in prayer, but the problem is that we are asking for our own good, neglecting God’s will and other people as well. In this view, we tend to think that we are God’s favorites and treat everyone else as second class citizens. God has a way of responding to this: he stops giving us what we want. We have to learn the hard way. If we don’t respond well, it can even damage our view of God. But we must remember that just as our parents disciplined us and didn’t let us have everything we wanted, so God disciplines us and does not spoil us for our own good.

Which extreme do you tend to slide towards? Neither is healthy. If you are willing, either viewpoint can be transformed through prayer. Humble yourself beneath him, and remember who he is. You will see his provision in due time. And even more importantly, you will know him more intimately because of it all.