Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Please Stop Begging God To Be Good

Please Stop Begging God To Be Good

Last updated on: February 12, 2020 at 6:09 pm by Keith Giles

Please Stop Begging God To Be Good 2020-02-12T18:09:15+00:00 Keith Giles

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

For most of my Christian life, I was trained to pray to God a certain way. This form of petitionary prayer is essentially an exercise in begging God to be merciful, or kind or loving towards us or those we love most.

Honestly, this is how I’ve prayed to God for over 40 years now. But recently I’ve started to realize how pointless and stupid this is.

Why? Because what I’m doing is begging God to be good, and that is like asking water to be wet or begging the sun to keep shining. It’s a waste of energy and it honestly assumes that God won’t be good unless I beg for it.

It also assumes that God won’t be good, or kind, or loving, or merciful unless I get enough people to beg along with me. This is sort of what we’re doing when we ask our friends to pray for us, or post on Facebook asking for prayer support for something.

Do we believe that God won’t pay attention to our needs unless we recruit a large enough crowd to shout loud and long enough?

Until recently, I never questioned my own behavior when it comes to prayer. I still catch myself asking for others to pray for me, or coming to God in this begging mode that assumes God won’t be who God is unless I ask God to be who God is.

What I’m trying to learn to do now is to start by quietly sitting in silence to meditate on the goodness of God. I remind myself of all the times God has proven faithful to me, or to my family. I count my blessings. I recall situations where I was desperate, fearful, alone, sick, broke, and in jeopardy. Then I remember how God showed up, blessed me, touched me, helped me, rescued me or provided for me in those moments.

In other words, I take time to remember who God already is and what God has already done to demonstrate this goodness and mercy to me – over and over again.

Once I have that locked into my mind, and my heart is wrapped in the awareness of God’s amazing goodness, I can then consider whatever fear or need or challenge I’m facing at this moment. I can see it reflected in the eyes of a God who is already good, who already loves me, who already knows what I need before I ask.

Honestly, once I’ve done this, there’s really no need to say anything else. I simply realize that God is already good and I start to celebrate God’s goodness and to thank God for being a loving, kind, merciful, caring God who has consistently proven this to me countless times before.

My fears subside in the presence of God’s love. My doubts dissipate in the awe of God’s mercy. My needs fade into the background of God’s amazing grace.

So, I have learned to cast my cares upon God, because first I take the time to remember all of the astounding ways that God cares for me.

This new way of praying has really helped me to reorient my perspective. I think it might do the same for you, if you’re willing to try it.

Let me know how it goes.

Keith Giles was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church 11 years ago, to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today, He and his wife have returned to El Paso, TX after 25 years, as part of their next adventure. They hope to start a new house church very soon.

DID YOU KNOW? The Christian Church has always held 3 views of Hell from the very beginning? Learn more about the 3 Views of Hell in my new online class at BeADisciple.com starting March 9, 2020. REGISTER TODAY>

Keith’s new book, “Jesus Undefeated: Condemning the False Doctrine of Eternal Torment” is available now on Amazon.

Want Keith to come speak at your church or in your home town? Send an invitation HERE

Can’t get enough? Get great bonus content: Patreon page.

Previous Post

February 7, 2020

From Flat Bible To Living Word Of God

Next Post

February 13, 2020 Why I Reject The 5 Fold Ministry

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What is Jesus' most famous sermon called?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Beatitudes The Last Supper The Parable of the Sower The Sermon on the Mount

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »