Dear God deliver me
from these pesky mosquitoes and gnats, also the poison ivy growing in my
flower beds and the weeds in my yard and garden.
But wait, didn’t God create these things? Well, I guess he did since they are a part of
the amazing and varied plant and animal bio-system He created. But why did he create such pests? They are nothing but a bother for me and threats
to my enjoyment of life. And we know for
a fact that over the centuries some of these pests have spread disease and pestilence.
So how can I pray for deliverance from something God
created? Did he put these pests here for
some purpose?
Remember the story of the frogs, lice, flies & locust
that plagued the Egyptians? Now these
critters were also part of God’s creation, but he used them for a purpose. So maybe I better think twice about those
pesky mosquitoes and gnats.
Do I need deliverance or just some insight? Is God trying to
tell me something?
Dear God, it’s been
awfully dry this summer, deliver me
from this drought. Now, we did get a
good shower one day last week and I’m not complaining about that, but we could
use a good soaker. Depending on where you live, we did get a good rain the last couple of days.
Does God control the weather or is that just a function of
ocean currents and the jet stream? After
all, God must have put them into motion as a part of his creative genius.
Best I can recall; weather played a role in several biblical
stories. Noah and the flood was a
memorable one for sure. I also remember
the story of Elijah and a long dry spell. Seems like those folks went without rain for
about three years because Elijah asked God to “not let it rain,” then later Elijah asked for a deliverance from
the drought and prayed for it to rain; and God sent a big “gully washer.” More recently, big swaths of the west and
southern California are in the grip of a terrible drought.
Maybe I ought to pray for rain with a different purpose that
just something to make the grass green or to help the farmers grow corn and
soybeans. Maybe drought is not an
inherently evil thing. Maybe there is
another “Elijah” somewhere that has asked God for a drought to “teach us a
lesson.” Should I be praying for
deliverance or insight?
How many times have we prayed, Dear God, deliver my children from the evil influences of this world? I didn’t keep a tally, but with two boys, we
probably prayed this prayer a lot during their growing up years.
But on the other hand, didn’t God give my kids brains to
make decisions? Did God not give us some
measure of “free will” to make choices in life?
The Bible is full of stories about somebody’s kids falling
victim to evil in the world. Remember the
stories about Cain & Able, the prodigal son, Esau & Jacob, Samuel’s
priestly, but wicked sons, and about 100 others. Seems like no matter how much a parent might
pray for deliverance for their children, evil often has its way with our
children.
I’ve been a “professing believer” for almost 65 years
now and despite the absence of a 100% guarantee of God’s deliverance, I will continue to pray
for God’s deliverance from evil. No
doubt, I’ve personally been delivered from a lot of the evil in this world,
mostly as a result of other folk’s prayers on my behalf. But based on personal observations and life experiences,
I know for a fact that despite our petitions, evil will not go away. Evil is always going to be a threat in this
world.
In all honesty, I’ll have to admit that as I’ve gotten older
it has become much easier for me to focus my prayers on another part of the
model prayer, the part that says, “thy
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
I do not know the “mind or will of God,” but I must simply trust
that his will is always better for me, even when it doesn’t mean deliverance.
Now, let’s ramble!
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