Bible OfflineBible OfflineDownload free
← Back to the blog

God is not a genie

by Ana Julia Luiz··2 min read
1
Share:
God is not a genie

I would like to invite you now to close your eyes for a moment and stop to think about your prayers and the hours/minutes you spend with God. Analysis: what do you usually talk about? Do you ask for more or do you have quality time with the Father?

Did you think about it a bit? Have you opened your eyes yet? Excellent! Let’s talk about it then.

We can easily live a theology in which the human being and his will are placed above everything and God (I hope unconsciously) is reduced to a servant or a genie, etc

You may be wondering where I’m going with this and if I’m implying that presenting your needs to God is wrong, but no, that’s not the point.

It’s not that you shouldn’t ask, but you can’t summarize your life with the Father in just requests and more requests.

Ceaseless search

I recently started reading a book that is quite famous here in Brazil, called “The God Who Destroys Dreams – Rodrigo Bibo”. He has several analogies to things in our daily life to explain the central theme of the book, that no, it’s not an evil God who doesn’t let you dream.

The book shows much of what I started talking about here, the Genie God of the Lamp is basically the introduction and it was inevitable not to feel embarrassed with so many truths being thrown on the table.

I would like to share with you an excerpt from the book:

Do we seek Him so that He can make our dreams come true or because the life (temporal and eternal) without Him would be an agonizing fall into nothingness?

“The God Who Destroys Dreams” – Preface by Maurício Zágari

That hurts. It hurts to think about how maybe we are looking for a place where we will no longer suffer and where we will have peace, someone who can fulfill our dreams and desires instead of a loving Father who relates to us and calls us to reach people who don’t know Him yet.

At this moment I just pray that mine and your desire are what the Psalmist says in Psalm 42:

“As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When will I go and present myself before the face of God?”

Psalm 42:1-2

May we seek God unceasingly and yearn more and more for His presence. May our life with the Father not be limited to just tireless requests, but may it be filled with moments of intimacy and quality time with Him.

God bless,
Ana.

Ana Julia Luiz

by

Ana Julia Luiz

Ana Julia Luiz, faço parte da equipe Bíblia JFA. Tenho vivido de acordo com o propósito de Deus em minha vida.

Comments

Be the first to comment.

Read next

The Cycles of Life
·Ana Julia Luiz

The Cycles of Life

It’s interesting to think about how our life is made of cycles. People come, people go, situations come and situations go. Hardly anything that comes stays forever. There are exceptions, but often that’s not how it works. If you say you’ve never gone through a cycle closure in your entire life, I’m sure I’ll find it very strange. Chapters I love to read and even more to write. I like to think of our lives as a book. At first, for us it is blank, but for God (the Author) it is filled with stories, situations, twists and much more, from our first little steps to the biggest decisions. God sees from the moment we arrive in this world, still in our mothers’ wombs. Closing cycles can often be a very tense chapter in life. Situations or other characters can leave the protagonist (me or you) confused and make him question: “why am I living this?” I was once talking to a friend, venting about a bunch of things that were going on. She looked deep into my eyes and said: “you are in despair because everything got out of your control, but that is normal, it is part of […]

Read more →
biblechangescyclesdevotional
Prayer: Cleanse me Lord
·Ana Julia Luiz

Prayer: Cleanse me Lord

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9 We are human beings, full of sins. The Word itself says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). We are in need of the Lord’s forgiveness. And for that we need to repent. Today, I invite you to pray with me, asking the Lord to purify our hearts from any and all sins. Remembering that you don’t need to pray exactly as I wrote here, because everyone has their own way of talking to the Father. But if you want, I’ll be happy to accompany you. Prayer “Lord, my God and Father, I thank you for this day, Thank you for the chance to pour myself out in Your presence and for Your Amazing Grace that tore the veil that used to separate us. Father, I ask forgiveness for my sins, all those that I have committed. Forgive me, for I am flawed and need correction. Cleanse my heart, purifying it of all the evil present in it and help me to become someone better. That every […]

Read more →
bibledevotionalfaithforgiveness
Wonderful Grace
·Ana Julia Luiz

Wonderful Grace

Last weekend, we went through the Easter holiday and honestly, it’s one of my favorite dates of the year. I like to reflect on what brought us to celebrate this very important date. How did it start? Easter started long before Jesus, actually the celebration started in the book of Exodus. Hebrews were slaves in Egypt and I believe you remember that God raised up Moses to free them. Before the Red Sea miracle happened, we know that the Lord sent the famous 10 plagues. We started with the waters that became blood, then the frogs, the lice, the flies, the plague in animals, boils, hail, the locusts, darkness over the land of Egypt and then the tenth plague: the death of the firstborn. God guided, through Moses, that each family of the people of Israel killed a lamb, male, just one year old, without defects, and spread the blood on the doorframes. That way, the firstborn of that house would not be harmed. The lamb delivered in place of the first born symbolized what would become the work and sacrifice of Christ, our Paschal lamb, delivered in our place. By Grace Today, we celebrate Easter because we are freed […]

Read more →
devotionaleastergodgrace