Bargaining with God

Ever notice how often people bargain with God when they pray? It happens all the time in the Bible. In Psalm 30, David points out to God that what good will do for God to let him die? No one can praise from the grave. Moses told God I can't speak so God gave him Aaron. Abraham bargained for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to be spared if enough righteous people could be found. Even Jesus prayed if possible for the crucifixion to be avoided if at all possible.

I think God lets us bargain to give us room to at least seem like we have choice. Whether we do or don't actually have a choice is a question that has occupied theologians and philosophers. God gives us leeway and I think even appreciates a little bit of back and forth.

I can't help but think of bargaining with God without thinking of the movie The End. In it Burt Reynolds tries suicide (he mistakenly thinks he has a fatal disease) by swimming out to sea. He has a change of heart and begins bargaining with God. His first offer to God to save him is extravagant -- give everything away to the poor, etc. As he gets closer to shore the offers begin to go down until he stumbles out on the shore and basically is offering nothing of consequence to God.

Now that's probably not a good way to bargain with God. But if you do find yourself praying to God and bargaining enters your prayer life, take a moment to take stock of what you offering and why you are offering it. Maybe in that moment you will learn more about yourself and what you value in life. You might learn something about yourself which is one of the true powerful moments that can happen in prayer.