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I grew up with Christian upbringing and meeting plenty of other believers. This was something I felt was so common to witness among other people that were believers and those that weren't.

It's an easy thing to be guilty of and not realize it.

I remember there were times when I knew I had sinned and I asked for forgiveness, but deep down in my heart I was thinking, "I'll say sorry and then I'll just do it again," as if I could fool God. This is dangerous thinking and a sad place to be because God won't be fooled - he knows a genuine apology from a fake one because he knows what is in our hearts.

I also remember there was a time where I didn't feel like singing at church. It felt hard to do for quite a while to me. I was upset at that church and had a lot of bitterness that I was hanging on to. I also had depression, which probably didn't help. My mom got upset that I wouldn't sing in church. I would make deals with God, you know. I'd be praying in my bed the night before, "Please do this/that for me and I will sing in church tomorrow!" I mean, I have a feeling that this isn't the most appropriate thing to say in prayer. Pretty much, "Do this for me and I'll do this for you," mentality, but that's not what a servant's heart looks like.

Galatians 6:7-10 NIV tells us:

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

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To think, "I stole that candy from my sister yesterday, I'll say I'm sorry, I'll ask God for forgiveness, and then I'll do it again tomorrow," is not repentance. It is a sin hanging on our heart that we need to leave behind, but instead we're clinging onto it because we feel that somehow it may be enjoyable or rewarding. Some sins are a struggle to stop and everyone has their struggles, and some sins will take more effort to stop/prevent than others, but we must be ready for Satan's attacks on us.

Often times Satan gives us an offer we can't resist. Maybe a person will think, "I really want that car, but I don't have the money. Oh, wait! If I steal it, then it will be all mine!" or perhaps you're hanging out with the wrong crowd that encourages all the wrong things - illegal substances, false loyalty, foul language, corrupt behavior, etc. and you think, "But they're my friends!" Satan can give you anything you want - friends, objects that make you feel good, etc. but there is one thing that he cannot give you and that is Salvation! Satan laughs at rebelling in God, I'm sure - it's his only goal to deceive people. We must not be deceived!

1 Corinthians 6:8-11 NIV:

Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

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Looping back around to God being a genie in a bottle for people. It is crazy how often people do this with and without realizing what exactly it is they are doing. It's okay to go to God in prayer with your needs, but there are times when His answer is, "No." When we go to God saying, "Oh, I really want this brand new red Mustang with all new shiny, chrome rims, and leather interior," it never hurts to ask - but are we asking for a good purpose or asking out of selfish desires? Sometimes I think we need to think about why we are asking God for things. God will grant us what He feels we need in His time. He could possibly bless someone with that brand new car when the time is right, but some people come to God with such wishes for material objects and then get upset saying, "God never answered my prayer!"

A good Biblical example I can think of is Moses in Exodus when he was dealing with Pharaoh. When Moses and Aaron went to say, "Let the Israelites go." There were many times where there was a plague and Pharaoh would say, "Moses, pray that this plague would go away!" Moses would do what Pharaoh asked and God would remove the plague, but Pharaoh's heart was still hard. Here are the scriptures below that I am referring to:

Moses: The Plague of Frogs - Exodus 8:1 - 4 NIV:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’”

Pharaoh: Exodus 8:8 NIV:

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

Moses: Plague of Flies 8:20-21 NIV:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and confront Pharaoh as he goes to the river and say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you do not let my people go, I will send swarms of flies on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the Egyptians will be full of flies; even the ground will be covered with them.

Pharaoh: Exodus 8:25 NIV:

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go, sacrifice to your God here in the land.”

Pharaoh Exodus 8:28 NIV:

Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God in the wilderness, but you must not go very far. Now pray for me.”

Moses: The Plague of Hail - Exodus 9:22-26 NIV:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that hail will fall all over Egypt—on people and animals and on everything growing in the fields of Egypt.” When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth. It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat down everything growing in the fields and stripped every tree. The only place it did not hail was the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were.

Pharaoh - Exodus 9:27-28 NIV:

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. “This time I have sinned,” he said to them. “The Lord is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to the Lord, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer.”

Moses - The Plague of Locusts - Exodus 10:3-6 NIV:

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said to him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, so that they may worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the ground so that it cannot be seen. They will devour what little you have left after the hail, including every tree that is growing in your fields. They will fill your houses and those of all your officials and all the Egyptians—something neither your parents nor your ancestors have ever seen from the day they settled in this land till now.’” Then Moses turned and left Pharaoh.

Pharaoh - Exodus 10:16-17 NIV:
Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”

Moses - The Plague of Darkness - Exodus 10:21 - 23 NIV:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

Pharaoh - Exodus 10:24 NIV:

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.”

Pharaoh - Exodus 10:27-28 NIV:

But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.”

Moses - The Plague of the Firstborn - Exodus 11:4-8 NIV:

So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt. Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any person or animal.’ Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. All these officials of yours will come to me, bowing down before me and saying, ‘Go, you and all the people who follow you!’ After that I will leave.” Then Moses, hot with anger, left Pharaoh.

Pharaoh - Exodus 12:31-32 NIV:

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”


We see while there are many times in Exodus, Pharaoh consulted the "magicians" as it tells us to try and prove that this wasn't God's doing and could be replicated, there were a few plagues where he did request God take the plague away with no intention to let God's people go. We see that God wasn't all that forgiving on that - God knew Pharaoh's heart. It keeps reminding us again and again that Pharaoh's heart was hard/unyielding

Let us all strive not to use God as our genie in the bottle to be our temporary solution. Instead, let us strive to serve God and treat Him as our Creator and Eternal Savior!

It is a trap that's not all that hard to fall in and it's important to identify when we do 3nodding

I believe with enough spiritual maturity, most can identify this and say, "Hey, wait a minute..." and not engage in those types of behaviors because they know they are costly.