Jesus and the Lottery

"Amen, amen, I say to you,

whoever believes in me will do the works that I do,

and will do greater ones than these,

because I am going to the Father. 

And whatever you ask in my name, I will do,

so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it."

Dear Lord, I want a winning lottery ticket, in Jesus name, I pray, Amen.  Well, it's off to the Shell station on the corner to buy my guaranteed "in Jesus Name" winning lottery ticket!  Man, am I going to have fun with all those greenbacks!  Or, have I set myself up for failure?   

Now, there is no reason why Jesus cannot grant me a winning lottery ticket. He knows me.  He knows how I think and what I would do with all of that money. If it is His will, it will happen.  But, it is foolish to pray for something so temporary as little green pieces of paper. The Lord knows what will help us achieve our goal, and that is heaven. 

Prayer is a privilege that we have by virtue of being created by God.  Christian prayer is a privilege that comes to us when we are baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus.  We have a twenty-four hour a day, seven days a week, fifty-two weeks a year hotline to God, a phone that will never go unanswered.  How sad it is that we do not take more advantage of this wonderful thing. 

It is through prayer that we will get to know Jesus and to cultivate a relationship with Him.  At any moment we can ASK, SEEK, & KNOCK.  We can always be assured that we will get what we ask for. It may not be a winning lottery ticket.  We have to remember that when we pray we are asking God, "Do you love me?"  His answer, no matter what it is, no matter what form it takes is always, "Yes, I love you, and you are precious in my sight.  I love you more than you can imagine. I want you to be with me forever in Paradise."  He will give us what we need when we need it for that is what a loving Father does for His children.