04/18/2024
This morning let’s contemplate the negative impact that dissatisfaction and covetousness has on our prayers and thankfulness. This resonates with me because I have personally been there; have you? Can we hear ourselves praying the lyrics of an old Janice Joplin song? Do we hear ourselves saying “Lord won’t you give me a Mercedes Benz, all my friends they drive Porsches, I must make amends”? Is this true prayer?
“Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
Matthew 6:8-9 ESV
Have you ever found it hard to pray because of coveting or feeling some dissatisfaction in your life? Sometimes we look around ourselves at the possessions, or lives, of others and have a tendency to judge ourselves and gauge our desires based on what we perceive to be their richness, happiness, and success. We ask God for the things we see others possessing and become discontented in our own lives if we don’t receive them. These are prayers which are either fraught with covetousness, or that flirt with it. How do we thank God for providing us with the necessities He has custom made for us when we are busy coveting the possessions of others? An old Chevrolet I once owned is a good example...
I would see friends and neighbors driving brand new BMWs, Cadillacs, Lexus, and the like, and I would think that I would really enjoy having one, but that wasn't what God had in mind for me right then. I drove a 2004 Chevy Impala that God gave me and taught me through.
You are probably wondering how teaching lessons through an old car is possible, and thinking that I was just settling for something less; something that flew in the face of today's theology of wealth. I have heard those thoughts preached on TV and they do sound enticing, but that is playing to our humanness... Let me tell you about my car.
I loved my mother and father in law from the day I met them. As the years passed by that love deepened until I found myself as one of their children. Then as they grew old and were unable to do many things I helped them and served them. I mowed grass, cleaned gutters, anything they asked. When my father in law was at the end of his days, I made his garden for him, dressed him, shaved him, and picked him up when he fell.
Then one day the engine went out on my old Nissan truck and I needed to find another vehicle. I was driving a loaned car while I looked for a replacement. I drove it to my in laws home and mowed their yard. When I had finished, I saw my father in law standing by the carport waiting for me, and in a very serious conversation he explained that he wanted to give me his car... his Chevy Impala. It was nearly new, dependable, and besides... He couldn't drive any longer. I wept on the way home because he was saying thank you and I love you in this gift.
My father in law passed away that summer, but his gift of love remained with me. I drove my mother in law to church each Sunday in that Chevy Impala, and although it wasn't a car I would have chosen for myself it was one that God had put me in. It took me to bible study and Sunday school and was indeed all that my father in law had promised.
Then after years of driving the Chevy, the transmission started slipping. Everyone said it would be expensive to fix and that it was time for a new car. That Wednesday afternoon as I was heading to teach bible study the problem got worse, and I just knew that I was going to break down before I reached the church, so I prayed. I thanked God for my Chevy and I told him how important it was to me. I told him that I needed this car to get to church and teach bible studies and Sunday school... And He spoke to me.
Our agreement that day was this... As long as I taught at church for my two pastors, and taught on Sunday mornings, the car would run... And it did. It did so for many more years and although the transmission still slipped on occasion (a reminder of our agreement) the Chevy ran. People asked me when I was going to get a new car, and I would tell them that one day I would, but right now this is the car that God wants me in.... It was a car that came to me through love, humility, and service.
"True prayer banishes complaining and promotes gratitude and thanksgiving. Dissatisfaction at one's lot, and a disposition to be discontented with things that come to us in the providence of God, are foes to gratitude and enemies to thanksgiving." – E.M. Bounds
So what Bounds wrote in this quote about our being discontent destroying our ability to offer thanksgiving in prayer is right... but it goes further than that. We should be content with the gifts that God provides us and thank Him for them because they are what we need. He always provides; it may not be a Mercedes and might be a Chevy instead, but each of his provisions comes with a lesson and a purpose.
One day I will go to be with the Lord. I hope and pray that I will leave a car of some sort behind and that it teaches one of my children or grandchildren as much about faith, humility, service, and God as my father in law's Chevy taught me. We should be satisfied in our prayer closets. Pray with thanksgiving for God's provision. And, whether it be an Audi or a Ford... a Land Rover or a Chevy... these are God's blessings to us and worthy of our thanks. In each and every gift there will come a Godly lesson and His presence.
May God give you exactly what you need today. May you be blessed in the meager as well as the lavish and hear His voice as He speaks to you through each. May your lot be acceptable and more... May you offer thanks to Him through whom all blessings flow.
“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:11-13
Prayer:
Father, thank you for this day, and all my needs that you have met. Thank you Lord for loving me enough that you would use my wants to teach me through your provision about my true neediness. Thank you too for expanding my faith, and showing me how to be more like you each time I pray for something overly extravagant by giving me exactly what I need instead. Help me to be content like the Apostle Paul who learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger alike. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you who gives to His children in abundance, and occasionally to extravagance, but always in accordance to the perfection of your will. You sent your son to redeem us as a carpenter and not a king. His hands were calloused and not soft, but His heart overflowed with love for us, and you occasionally gave Him miracles to perform that we might believe and see your greatness in Him. Oh the glory and joy we find in the meager as well as extravagant gifts we receive from you. Oh the taste of the unleavened and leavened bread alike. You are the giver of every good gift Abba, and the teacher of righteous lessons that will lead us to eternity with you. In all things and circumstances hear us asking in according to your will, and the name of Jesus, so that our hearts and souls are full to overflowing with thanksgiving, and we are able to praise you abundantly in all of our prayers. Hear us now Father for you are wonderful indeed, and have made every provision for our salvation and our presence with you in eternity.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Amen!
Rich Forbes