Start with Praise: 7 Empowering PrayersSýnishorn

Learning that God Is Not a Genie in a Bottle

Standing on the playground in fourth grade, I looked up at the beautiful blue sky during recess, and I began to pray—for rain. My Sunday school teacher had shared the story of Elijah praying for rain, and I thought, well, why not give it a try.

If God made it rain for Elijah, why not for me?

I became a Christian when I was just four years old thanks to a local church that had a bus ministry that picked up me and my sisters every Sunday and drove us to church. In my little pre-school Sunday school class, I first heard about my need for a Savior to get to heaven because we could never be good enough on our own.

I have a vivid memory of the teacher’s diagram of how we try to do good works yet fail because we aren’t perfect. But Jesus is perfect. All I had to do was ask Him into my heart. Seemed easy enough.

I went home, waited for a rare moment when my family of eight was not around, closed the door to the room that I shared with a couple other siblings, and prayed my first prayer, asking Jesus into my heart.

The more I went to Sunday school, the more I learned about God and prayer. By first grade, I fully believed God would answer all my prayers.

In fact, I prayed that God would help me guess the number of beans in a large jar at school so I could win a huge wooden Santa Claus. The contest was for the entire elementary school, and I won! My little first-grade friends helped me haul ginormous Santa to my house, a few blocks away. While I was delighted, I certainly was not surprised. I prayed, and God answered.

Isn’t that the way it always works?

Fast forward to fourth grade. I was placed in a class with fifth and sixth graders. Maybe that was a good idea academically, but socially that was a bad fit. I became self-conscious, especially of my clothes. After all, I was the fourth daughter in a family of six children. I didn’t have new clothes. Yet, I was surrounded by fifth- and sixth-grade girls who had begun to care about their appearance. Mind you, I was in fourth grade, so a weekly bathing was still just fine by me. But I began to notice others’ nice outfits.

In Sunday school, the teacher talked about Matthew 6:28-30. So, as the fairly obedient and quiet child that I was, I prayed, asking God to supply my clothing needs. Do you know the verse Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) that says that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine”? Well, that’s what God did for me.

My sister’s best friend had just outgrown her clothes, and she gave them to me! I was overjoyed to have such beautiful new clothes. I went two entire weeks without having to repeat a piece of clothing. (Although, one day, as I sported the most comfortable shirt and elastic-waist pants, a fellow-student commented how much my new outfit looked like her pajamas!)

Did God answer prayer? I had absolutely no doubt in my mind.

So imagine my surprise when a few weeks later, I prayed for rain and there was no rain! I was miffed, spiritually insulted, and determined to figure out this prayer thing.

After a little elementary-school level soul searching, I realized God wasn’t like the genies on TV, especially the ones on the I Dream of Jeanie reruns I liked to watch. Hmm, so why did God answer my other big prayer requests but didn’t let it pour down rain on the playground?

Why does God shower me with answered prayers that are “more than all I ask or imagine” sometimes, and other times not? It took me awhile to realize… it’s not all about me. Shocking, I know.

Reading the Bible every day and talking with God had changed my relationship with my heavenly Father from just asking for requests like He was a genie in a bottle, to that of a real relationship.

Ah, that was the key!

Prayer is not about presenting a list of requests, it’s about growing closer to God and allowing God to transform us to mirror Jesus Christ. The big answer of prayer that led to my friends and I carrying a wooden Santa home wasn’t about the contest at all, it was about God answering the cry of a child’s heart so she knew that the Creator of the universe loved her, personally.

Why did He answer my prayer for clothes? Of course, God loves to give good gifts to His children, but I think it was also because I was praying scriptures and claiming God’s promise in Matthew 6:28-30. And why didn’t He let it pour rain on a beautiful Southern California day just because I had asked? That was purely an intellectual prayer request. It wasn’t heartfelt. I wasn’t praying according to God’s will. It was a child asking for, in essence, a magic trick.

As I steadily read the Bible, God gave me a deeper understanding of prayer with verses like 1 John 5:14-15, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (NIV).

Soon, I realized that the power in prayer isn’t just for me: It can be a life-transforming gift I pour out on others, even without them knowing. I have witnessed God answer intercessory prayers for others over and over again and many times without the person even knowing I was praying.

As we stand in the gap for others in prayer, God loves to answer in His perfect timing and according to His perfect will. Sometimes we get to witness God performing the miraculous transformation. Other times we might never know this side of heaven how a chorus of prayers buoyed someone who was down, prevented a tragedy, breathed peace into a chaotic situation, or brought someone to salvation in Christ.

Is a colleague having a bad day? Does the cashier seem gloomy? Is the school crossing guard frustrated? Pray for them. Remember, God can hear our prayers as we intercede for others.

Who do you know that needs your prayers? Who needs to have scriptural and Holy Spirit-directed prayers poured into their lives and into their circumstances?

Throughout the day, remember to intercede for those around you, and watch with expectation how God will answer in His perfect timing, in His perfect way.

PRAISE
Lord, I praise You for caring about the details of our lives, like our clothing, and for allowing us the privilege to intercede in prayer for others.

CONFESSION
Forgive me for the times I worry and fret about things like food and clothing, instead of trusting that You will take care of my every need.

THANKSGIVING
Thank You for always providing for my needs. Specifically, Lord, thank You for ______________

INTERCESSION
Lord, I pray _______ will not worry about what he/she will eat or drink; or about what he/she will wear.
(From Matthew 6:25)

PETITION
Oh Lord, help me not to worry about what I’ll eat or drink; or what I will wear in this situation…
(From Matthew 6:25)