I like to Picture My Jesus in A Tuxedo T-Shirt

We all have our pet peeves. Mine include being touched, seeing the word “redneck” plastered on the windshield of a pickup, DVDs that don’t have English subtitles, Confederate flags, and people taking Slash’s side in the Guns n’ Roses split… I also have an irrational fear of grandfather clocks, but that’s neither here nor there.

The worst one though? The one that makes me madder than a hornet in a tornado? When someone tells me that they lost their faith in YHVH because He “didn’t answer my prayer”. What a load of bunk that is. I mean, really? So, because the Creator of all things had a better plan than what you had in mind, and because He didn’t work like a little genie good will vending machine taco stand Elohim, that MUST mean He doesn’t exist. What horrible reasoning! When did Yah become Santa Claus? What right do we have to put Him in a box and make Him bend to OUR will? Honestly, He doesn’t do that to us, and He very well could, why do we think we have the right to do that to Him? People’s arrogance never ceases to astound and stupefy me. I know I’m not a rocket scientist but come on!

I honestly believe that a lot of the problem stems from a misunderstanding of John 14:13-14:

 ¹³ In fact, whatever you ask for in my name, I will do; so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me for something in my name, I will do it.

Too many people read this out of context and think that Yeshua becomes the go to reference for what they need in their life. When we actually take a look at this verse in context, we see that Yeshua is telling us that what we need in the use of His ministry is what we should be asking for in the first place. Let’s take a look at another verse on prayer from His lips. The infamous, “Lord’s prayer” found in Mathew 6:

⁷ “And when you pray, don’t babble on and on like the pagans, who think God will hear them better if they talk a lot. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹ You, therefore, pray like this:

‘Our Father in heaven!
    May your Name be kept holy.
¹⁰ May your Kingdom come,
    your will be done on earth as in heaven.

¹¹ Give us the food we need today.
¹² Forgive us what we have done wrong,
    as we too have forgiven those who have wronged us.
¹³ And do not lead us into hard testing,
    but keep us safe from the Evil One.
^[a]For kingship, power and glory are yours forever.

Amen.’

I love this passage. I mean, look at the words our Messiah uses. From the get go He instructs us how we should come before the Father. First in reverence and respect, then in praise and exultation, then we come to Him with our requests. But notice something about the request segment? Not once does Yeshua give an example of coming to Abba with things for your personal glory or comfort. Every request our Meshiach makes of our Elohim is for YHVH’s glory and the things that are needed to carry on His work.

Invariably, we all come to some point in our life that we feel let down because YHVH isn’t granting our request that we feel is of the utmost importance. I personally spent quite a long time angry at YHVH because my wife and I tried so very hard to conceive. We lost two children before we even knew they were there. I couldn’t understand why Yah would not hear me. Why he wouldn’t heal my wife. Why He felt that we didn’t deserve to be parents. It hurt, and it still does in some ways. I, too, got hung up on the “why? Why won’t you answer my prayer?” nonsense. I was too blind to see that Yah had a different plan than mine and that I had no right to question what His will was. Imagine if Yah granted us everything we asked despite what’s best for our personal interest? I mean, Yeshua Himself pleaded with YHVH at least three times to avoid the crucifixion! Where would any of us be if Yah had been all like, “Well, I know that would be uncomfortable for you so I’m just gonna call the whole thing off and we can go out and get some tea. How’s that sound, son?”  For that matter, let’s take a look at part of Yeshua’s prayer in the garden.

⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, let not my will but yours be done.”- Luke 22:42

Hmmm… I can’t help but notice how this segment starts and ends… “If you are willing, let not my will but yours be done”. Kinda puts things in perspective, huh? Yeshua was about to face the harshest punishment and possibly the most painful form of execution ever,  and His thoughts were of the Father’s will. The dude was so stressed He was sweating blood, and STILL His prayer was for Abba’s glory before his own comfort.

So, I guess what I’m getting at is that things get hard, things don’t go the way we expect or want them to, but we have no right to deny Abba in the hard times. Our prayers should be like those of our Messiah. We should cling to Abba in the hardest of times. His plan and will is better than ours. His purpose is infinitely more important than our comfort or temporal satisfaction. It is nothing more than pure selfishness and the worst kind of self-idolization to think that because Yah doesn’t work the way we want Him to means He doesn’t exist. ‘Nuff said.

One Love,

Albert C. Coble