I'll call him Johnny. After asking blessings over his family, Sunday School class, and even his teacher, he came up with a very unusual request - no, actually it was a demand, - from God. “And make Doug a girl,” were the last words he said before Amen. You see, Doug was another 6-year-old in the class. They had been sniping and picking on each other the entire class hour. "If only God would make Doug a girl, all his problems would go away" is what Johnny seemed to be asking. The biggest insult he could find was that God would somehow turn Doug into a girl.
We laugh at the childish and naïve request made by this little guy. Why? Because it was a totally selfish and unrealistic request. Little Johnny was having his problems and the best way to “show Doug” who was boss was to have God turn Doug into a girl (notwithstanding the problems that would arise from that answered prayer!). In other words, “God, make my problems go away.”
Our words are different but the theme's still the same, “God, make my problems go away and this is how I want you to do it.” We're not content to have God make our problems go away, as if He were a Genie or a Santa Claus. We top that off with telling God how we think He should do it! And then we feel as if God has abandoned us if He doesn't answer it precisely the way we think it should be answered.
More realistically, we should be asking God how He can best use us in the situation and not that it would go away. To Johnny's thinking, he had a problem: Doug. Telling God to turn Doug into a girl was Johnny's way of solving his current problems.
But on the other hand, I find little Johnny's prayer refreshingly real, don't you? God's not really concerned about how we approach Him, but that we DO approach Him. What's on your heart is much more important that what's on your tongue. In fact, what comes out of the mouth is directly correlated to what's in your heart. Does God want to know about Doug and how Johnny feels about Doug? Absolutely. Does He want to know how you think He should answer your request. Sure, why not? Johnny's words weren't overflowing with gripes or complaints. There's a fairly good chance that Johnny's request won't be answered. He was a six-year-old and completely in character with that age. An age-appropriate request is what they call it.
What's more important, though, that our words are flowery and pretentious that even we don't know exactly what we're asking from God or that our words to a God who already knows our requests are blunt, to the point and very real? And aren't we told that we need to approach God like a little child anyhow? Of the two approaches, I know which one I'm striving for.
