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Open Up - Ever Made a Deal with God?

Have you ever attempted to make a deal with God? What drove you to do that? And what happened?

Have you ever been so desperate for something that you prayed to God and said you’d do something it he answered your prayer?

There’s the story of Hannah in the Old Testament in the Bible. She was barren and yet so desperate to have a child she prayed and told God that if he’d let her have a son, she’d let him devote his life to the Temple:

“O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life”

Hannah gave birth to Samuel, who did go on to devote his life to God, becoming a prophet for Israel.

Or have you ever been in such great need of forgiveness that you called out to God and said you’d do something for him if only he would forgive you?

Or have you ever done something that made you so ashamed and caused so much hurt that you asked God to reverse the situation in return for you taking some kind of action in your life?
 
I want to hear whether you’ve ever attempted to make a deal with God and what the outcome of that deal was.

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Comments (1)

Sean:

As a young man of only 16, the problem of suffering reared its ugly head recently, being only a mild illness. I found myself in the position of begging God to take away the pain, time after time, and in return I would spend more time with Him and less time focusing on this world. Time after time, God relieved my pain, however, despite this answer to prayer I found myself time after time breaking my end of the deal.

It took a change of perspective, a Romans 8:28 perspective for me to understand the sovereignty and justice of God, despite suffering:

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Instead of bitterness, I found humility. God has taught me to trust Him, to not take for granted that which God has so wonderfully blessed me with. What an honour to be able to learn and grow from God's lessons.

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