WHEN I NEED HIM MOST
If I had cherished evil thoughts, the Lord would not have heard me. Ps. 66:18, N.E.B.
Though he was making a statement, I could tell he was asking a question. And the earnest frustration of his face let me know that the young man was asking no idle question. "I don't like the idea," he said, "that God won't hear me as long as I cherish any evil thoughts. It seems to me that the only possible way I could ever overcome my evil thoughts, especially the ones I cherish, would be if I ask God for help, and He hears me! What hope is there for any of us if the Lord hears us only after we have stopped thinking all evil thoughts?"
It was one of those vital moments when one's faith is either nurtured or oppressed by one's understanding of how God deals with us sinners. And it is not an uncommon perception that we must do a whole lot of internal housekeeping before God will condescend to stoop through our shabby doorways. But is this what David had in mind when he penned today's verse?
Or is David challenging those of us who would be inclined merely to "use" prayer? Or, more accurately, to "use" God through prayer? You know, like the person who smokes several packs a day, then prays for good health. Or the one who spends three hours in front of the television tube for every ten minutes he spends with the Word, then prays with deep fervency for rich spiritual blessings. If God were to step outside the boundaries of reality and grant those requests, arbitrarily "dishing out" bountiful blessings to people who are walking outside the path of blessing, He would utterly confuse people about that very path.
We have to admit one thing about our God: He is totally committed to reality. As much as He wants us to enter into prayer with Him, He is too wise to let us come with our "want list" on our lips but with our "self-destruct" list warmly embedded in our hearts. He is not (as some people would appear to think) a softhearted Santa Claus who is easily hoodwinked into thinking that we're not naughty, but rather quite nice.
Far more important than the gifts we wish He would give us is the wisdom He wishes to give to us. More than merely being blessed, He wants us to be taught the ways of righteousness--which really is the best blessing. And all who long to be taught by Him have His ear!
If I had cherished evil thoughts, the Lord would not have heard me. Ps. 66:18, N.E.B.
Though he was making a statement, I could tell he was asking a question. And the earnest frustration of his face let me know that the young man was asking no idle question. "I don't like the idea," he said, "that God won't hear me as long as I cherish any evil thoughts. It seems to me that the only possible way I could ever overcome my evil thoughts, especially the ones I cherish, would be if I ask God for help, and He hears me! What hope is there for any of us if the Lord hears us only after we have stopped thinking all evil thoughts?"
It was one of those vital moments when one's faith is either nurtured or oppressed by one's understanding of how God deals with us sinners. And it is not an uncommon perception that we must do a whole lot of internal housekeeping before God will condescend to stoop through our shabby doorways. But is this what David had in mind when he penned today's verse?
Or is David challenging those of us who would be inclined merely to "use" prayer? Or, more accurately, to "use" God through prayer? You know, like the person who smokes several packs a day, then prays for good health. Or the one who spends three hours in front of the television tube for every ten minutes he spends with the Word, then prays with deep fervency for rich spiritual blessings. If God were to step outside the boundaries of reality and grant those requests, arbitrarily "dishing out" bountiful blessings to people who are walking outside the path of blessing, He would utterly confuse people about that very path.
We have to admit one thing about our God: He is totally committed to reality. As much as He wants us to enter into prayer with Him, He is too wise to let us come with our "want list" on our lips but with our "self-destruct" list warmly embedded in our hearts. He is not (as some people would appear to think) a softhearted Santa Claus who is easily hoodwinked into thinking that we're not naughty, but rather quite nice.
Far more important than the gifts we wish He would give us is the wisdom He wishes to give to us. More than merely being blessed, He wants us to be taught the ways of righteousness--which really is the best blessing. And all who long to be taught by Him have His ear!
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