Hello! After four weeks of vacation The Up Devotional is back with your one-minute daily shot of soul espresso!

In the fictional movie Bruce Almighty, Bruce is played by actor Jim Carrey. He has the unique opportunity to do God’s job for a while.

He wants to be nice to everyone so he says Yes to everyone’s prayer requests (which, I should add, have come to him by email).

Reply All: Yes.

We soon learn that thousands of people had prayed to win the lottery. Since Bruce had said Yes to every request they ALL won. Therefore the jackpot had to be split thousands of ways. Instead of getting millions, each of the winners got next to nothing. Elation turned to mayhem. People were so upset that they were rioting in the streets!

It seems that Bruce’s strategy to say Yes to everyone’s requests didn’t turn out very well.

It’s a silly illustration from a fictional movie. And fortunately for us, the true God knows what he’s doing when he responds to prayers. But let me make this point. When it comes to prayer—just like everything else—we should be seeking to serve God, not just what selfishly serves ourselves.

Consider James 4:2-3: “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.”

Check your motives. Motives are a kind of invisible momentum which thrust you forward in a certain direction. Let’s ensure that direction is toward Christ, his counsel, and the kingdom come.

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Notes:

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.