Jesus is not an ATM Machine!

In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."

Mark 11:20-26


I went to a different kind of church on Sunday. It was filled with good brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. But they did an amazing thing. They prayed for checks to fill their mailboxes and money to line their pockets. They prayed for profits and promotions. They prayed for advancement and status. They said that if you are not prospering financially then you must being making the Father angry and aren't properly fearing Him. They said to pray for prosperity in Jesus' name and He can't refuse your requests.

HMMMM. I believe these are good folks. They have good intentions. But that isn't the faith that I have come to know. My Jesus is not an ATM machine. I am not a teenager running to Him asking to borrow the car keys or asking for an extra 20 dollars for my allowance.

I do believe in prayer. I believe in fearing the Father-God. I believe in obedience to the Living Lord. I believe that prayers are answered. I believe He always answers our prayers but sometimes He just says 'NO!’ He doesn't always give us what we WANT.... But He always gives us what we NEED. And that is so much more important.

My spiritual Guru is Calla Johnson. She is so much wiser than I am. She is always talking about what grace truly is. It’s hard to understand. Grace isn’t a free ticket to do what ever you want. Grace isn’t a shopping spree through life. GRACE IS GOD’S UNCODITIONAL LOVE FOR US. Calla says that grace is God giving us not what we selfishly want… but what we DESPERATELY NEED to survive. We need Jesus’ death on the cross. We need to confess at His feet and we need to follow Him. We need to spread His Good News to others and love others in His name. We need these things like we need water in the desert… or light in the darkness. We need it like oxygen.

Our prayers are answered. We sometimes get what we want. But it seems that the more in tune we are with His word, the more we walk in His ways the more we delight in His will, the more we ask for those things that we truly need. We stop praying for more money and faster cars and we start asking to be made more in His image or to be placed in a position to help those in need.

When we stop being selfish and start asking how we can help our neighbor… then we have become Christ-like. Then our prayers are answered. Jesus isn’t an ATM… He is a life preserver.