Be Like God
I have an old friend from junior high school who has a granddaughter who passed away last night from CHD. I prayed for the family this morning but knew that God was already there.
Understanding that God knows all things and is in control of all things, I often struggle with why I should pray at all.
He already knows the need. He already knows what I'll say. He definitely cares more than I do and always knows exactly what is needed in every situation. Me, I don't have a clue.
It seems arrogant that clueless me could pray and ask the God of the universe to do anything. It's not like I could come up with something He didn't think of.
In the book of Isaiah, Satan is said to have stated "I will ascend and be like God". He also passed this evil intent to man when he tempted Eve, and Adam, with "If you eat this you will be like God."
Be like God.
Since that day, man has struggled with this very thing. Wanting to be like God. Unfortunately, what they got in eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was just that...knowledge of good and evil.
The problem, which became immediately obvious to them: God was vastly good, and they, as simple time based creations, couldn't come close to that level of goodness, and we're thus...evil.
So here, man, now "gifted" with this new embedded drive to be like God, yet infinitely far from that goal, became overwhelmed with a sense of utter hopelessness. They hid from Him in response.
After many years, man, still hiding, avoiding and ignoring the obvious, started to believe they were godlike by comparing themselves to each other. God then gave a small group of people a book of rules to show them how perfect they would need to be in order to " be like God"...this book is called the Law and was penned, or rather written in stone, by Moses.
The Law IS the written knowledge of good and evil.
We have no power to alter reality, despite what Word Faith teachers say. We can't will a little girl to be healed of CHD or any other disease. Sorry, we can't, and nowhere is God expecting us to "figure it out" and all of a sudden have Godlike powers. Rather, this teaching that we can attain godlike power smacks of the old lie, if you do this...you will be like God.
Be Like God.
So yet in Scripture, we are commanded to be like God! We have an internal struggle due to that first sin, and a written command to do better things, yet faced with the obvious truth, we are just not and never will be good enough.
The truth of how to be like God is shown clearly in the work of Jesus Christ. In the book of Philippians chapter two, the apostle Paul lays it out plainly.
Philippians 2
1. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
2. then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
3. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
4. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6. Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7. but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!
9. Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
10. that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11. and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
To be like God has nothing to do with power to change reality with my will or effort. No, Jesus BEING GOD, had power, ALL power, yet made himself a servant. He could have killed all who opposed him with a thought, but instead, LET them kill him.
The only way to appease this internal struggle to be like God is to be like Jesus, which is to put God and others first.
That's it.
So why pray, if God is the power and fully knows what is best in every situation? Because by doing so, we can be like God.
God cares about that little girl, even if He didn't heal her. God cares about the family even though He took a child they love. We can trust that God knows best.
Yet, we can also walk with him by being like Him in heart.
Asking God to bring comfort is not going to change whether or not He will bring comfort, because He is God, He cares more than we do. But my praying is me just agreeing with the heart of God and walking with him.
The answer is there.
We cannot ascend to be like God. We must go the other way. To be like God, we must make a completely opposite statement.
I will descend, and be like God.