My New Personal Assistant

For Christmas, Kim bought me a new personal assistant. No, I’m not speaking about someone to replace Lisa who works as my administrative assistant in our church office. Kim bought me a Google Nest Hub that has a screen for display, built in speakers, and can control lights, my smart TV,  thermostats, play music and podcasts, etc. It even plays games!  So now all I need to do is speak commands like, “Hey Google! Turn on the kitchen lights!” or “Hey Google! Play Spotify!” or “Hey Google! Tell me today’s weather!” and, behold it happens—lights come on, music begins to play, and I get the weather. I can even set routines so that when I say, “Hey Google! Good night!” I get the next day’s weather, my first appointment for the following day, and the lights get turned off. My new personal assistant does pretty well at obeying my every command (as long as I have properly set it up!). 

In some ways, it feels a bit weird for me to be barking out commands and have them obeyed as fully as they are with this Google device. For one, I don’t normally bark out commands to the people I work with, nor to my wife, children, or others around me. And even if I give some sort of directive, they are not always followed to the fullest. After all, in the end we are people interacting with each other with hopefully some sort of relational component, not machines who merely fulfill one another’s commands.  My relationship with those around me is not based on, as we might say, “My will is your command!”  

Unfortunately, I think that’s how we sometimes treat God, especially when it comes to prayer. By claiming certain scriptures (usually out of context), we pray to God as if we are giving him directives that he must out of necessity obey. We act as if God is our personal assistant who has been set up to fulfill our every desire and give to us all that we command him to give. And then we wonder why our prayers go answered—and why our relationship with God seems so broken. 

When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, he did so instructing them to come to God as children coming to their good father.  That means petitioning God filled with faith and trust, asking but never demanding. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”(Philippians 4:6 – NIV) Notice we are to bring our “requests” to God, not our demands! 

Finally, the Apostle James wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2b-3 – NIV) In other words, when it comes to prayer the motives of our hearts count. We cannot expect God to answer our prayers, just because we say so! 

It’s kind of fun and a bit convenient to have a Google personal assistant to obey my commands for lights, music, weather, etc. But may I never expect of the people around me what I expect from this little machine. And most of all, may I never treat God in such a way—as if he were my personal assistant. Rather, may I live my life ready to serve him and fulfill his will. After all, he is my good heavenly Father who knows what is best for me and for the world around me. And the same is true for you. 

Have a great day! 

- Pastor Tim Harris