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Campus Life, September/October 2003
God & Google
Do you ever treat God like a search engine?
by Tracy Carbaugh
Have you googled today? If so, yours was one of the 150 million searches on the world's biggest search engine. Did you find what you were looking for? Google will always give you something. Sometimes the results are, "like, totally wacked." Sometimes they're "way tight." (I googled "modern slang.")
Do you ever approach God as if he were a giant search engine? You tell him what you want and expect instant results. What if God doesn't give you what you're really looking for? That's OK. There are lots of other "search engines" out there: parents, friends, the mall.
But God isn't the big search engine in the sky. And if he has something in mind for you, he won't substitute it for something that's second best—even if it's something you really want or think you need. Here are some things to remember about God:
God knows your deepest desires—and motives—before you ask: "O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. … You perceive my thoughts from afar. … Before a word is on my tongue you know it com-pletely" (Psalm 139:1-4).
Even though God already knows your thoughts, don't skip prayer: "How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him" (Matthew 7:11).
Didn't get what you asked for? Maybe it's not good for you: "Every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17).
Your ultimate search should always be for God himself: "Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always" (Psalm 105:4).
God isn't like Google. He won't give you something substandard just to satisfy your immediate desires. So keep asking, and seeking, and knocking—and know that he wants to give you the very best he has to offer.
Think about it:
- What am I searching for?
- Why should I pray?
- How do I know God answers prayer?
- What are three things I should pray about today?
This devotion was adapted from a writing that appears in the summer edition of Soul Journey, a daily devotional guide published by our friends at RBC Ministries. Go online each day for a new devotion from this faith-stretching guide: www.soul-journey.org. Or subscribe to the magazine version of Soul Journey at www.getsj.com
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In The Word
Old Testament:
Psalm 72:12
1 May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 2 May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion. 3 May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. 4 May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. 5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests. 6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand. 7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm. 9 O Lord, save the king! Answer us when we call!
New Testament:
Matthew 7:7-11
7 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
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Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Campus Life.
September/October 2003, Vol. 62, No. 4, Page 14
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