“Name it and claim it” is a twisted version of the gospel that is being proclaimed by some preachers, generally ones appearing on TV. It’s the spiritually immature belief that if we just attach “in Jesus name” to any prayer, we can get what we ask for.
“Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.” And we think the Mercedes is supposed to appear in our driveway. I suspect many who feel their prayers are never answered are wandering into the trap of books such as The Secret, which takes God completely out of the equation and teaches that you can have what you want just by thinking about it hard enough.
What good earthly parent would give their child everything they ask for? We’ve all seen it before: badly spoiled children who are never satisfied with what they have. They soon tire of the latest toy and pout until they get a new one. The more the parents give into the child’s whims, the more ungrateful and bratty the child becomes.
Why would God, then, give us everything we demand? This world is a place of testing, not a place where we are going to be indulged to our hearts’ content by asking gifts of a great genie in the sky. God is a wise father who knows you don’t raise children to become good people by indulging their every little want . That is not a popular message for those who think you can just call Him “Lord, Lord” and that’s enough to get what you request. God’s will is to give us what we truly desire. He has placed longing in our hearts for Him alone, but often we seek to fill that longing by chasing after things in this world rather than cultivating a close relationship with Him.
Not only does God say “no” to many of our requests, He also sends or allows suffering. Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 To take up our cross is to accept with resignation what God sends us, because whatever He ordains or allows is ultimately for our own good. There is some lesson to be learned or some virtue to gain through each trial we experience. We must learn to walk by faith and not by sight, trusting God instead of questioning His will. God’s ways are so above our ways, that we can no more pick the mind of God than we can pick a star from the sky. When we accept the crosses we are given, we allow God to make lemonade from the lemons of our lives. St. Paul assures us that everything that happens is ultimately for our own good:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
In all of our prayers, we should imitate Jesus when he says “not my will but thine be done.” Sometimes it is not God’s will for you to receive the Mercedes or to be cured of the cancer. But just because God doesn’t give you what you want doesn’t mean he’s ignoring you. When the answer to a prayer appears to be “no,” it’s possible God has actually given us something far greater than what we asked for.
Dr. Peter Kreeft, in his book Angels (and Demons): What Do We Really Know About Them? has one amazing sentence about prayer that is worth remembering:
“In fact, I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tinest of our prayers to God make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those effects down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives.”
Recommended Audio: Pain and Suffering
