Nothin’ But Gum

My youngest daughter Jessica will be turning four in a little less than two weeks. Yesterday, I asked her for ideas of what gifts she might like to receive for her birthday. She thought about it, then said, “I don’t know.”

“Would you like a toy for your Squinkies?” I asked. “Or maybe the jet for Littlest Pet Shop?”

“The jet for Littlest Pet Shop!” she said. “No, wait. How about…gum?”

“O-kay, you can have gum,” I said.

“Would I have to share?” Jessica asked politely.

“No, this would be your birthday gum,” I said. “It would all be for you.”

“Yay!” she said excitedly, a grin lighting up her face.

I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised at her response. Despite the fact that Jessica loves to play with her toys, especially when someone will play with her, she has frequently shown more excitement over gum than she has over a new toy. In fact, once she received ten dollars from her grandma for her birthday. “Can I buy a gumball?” she asked hopefully.

“Sweetie, you can buy a lot of gumballs for ten dollars,” I said.

“Yay!” she responded.

I wonder how old she’ll be before gum isn’t all that impressive anymore…or before she realizes that she can ask for both gum and toys. On the one hand, I’m very glad she’s content with simple things for now. On the other hand, I want her to know there’s much more available to her.

I bet that’s how God feels with respect to our requests. Certainly He’s glad when we’re content with the basics, as far as material things are concerned. But regarding spiritual things, I bet He wishes we would ask for so much more than we do.

Our prayers tend to be small. Limited. We ask for money to pay the bills, for physical health, or for a new job. Granted, those are all good things, and we should bring these requests to God when they arise. But if all we pray for is physical or material things, we’re missing a huge part of what prayer is supposed to be about.

The Bible tells us that God can do far more than we can even ask or imagine, spiritually speaking. He can grant us spiritual victories over temptation or discouragement. He can produce the fruit of the Spirit in us. He can change our hearts to love someone we really don’t like. He can make us bold witnesses for His Name’s sake. He can fill us with joy despite our circumstances. He can make His own glory shine through us. Yet how often do we ask Him for any of these things?

I know it’s easy to get caught up in the seemingly more urgent material needs that we have. Happens to me too. But if we pray about those things to the exclusion of spiritual things, we’re missing something. And if we think we need our husband to get a job, or need our allergies to stop bothering us, more than we need spiritual strength, we’re mistaken.

What are you asking God for, spiritually speaking? If you’re like me, too often the answer is not much. Or perhaps, again like me, you remember to ask for a few days in a row, but the next thing you know, it’s been a month since you’ve prayed about it.

Will you try something with me this week? Let’s ask God to open our eyes to the spiritual blessings we’re missing out on because we don’t ask. Let’s ask Him to show us what kinds of spiritual things we need to be praying about. Then, let’s ask Him to grant us the desire to do so, and the ability to remember to engage in this new habit.

You see, Satan doesn’t want us to pray about the spiritual things. He’s probably thrilled if we spend all our time praying about our car or our house or our dog. He knows, better than we do sometimes, that it’s the prayers for spiritual things that are the most dangerous to his kingdom. He wants us to forget to pray, or not to realize the importance of it.

But greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world. And He who is in us is the one who will go on this adventure with us. Let’s let Him lead us on the most fantastically fulfilling adventure of our lives. Will you try it?

Ephesians 3:20-21—Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

I John 4:4—Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.