A lesson from Jephthah
And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: ‘If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.’
Judges 11:30-31 (NIVUK)
Have you ever said to God something like, ‘If you get me out of this scrape, I’ll be good’, or ‘If you heal me, I’ll start going to church’? We need to be very careful what we vow to God. In Jephthah’s case, the consequence of his hasty declaration was that his daughter came out of the house dancing, and he faced the dilemma of sacrificing her (vv. 34-39).
Jesus’s view on giving vows is presented in the Sermon on the Mount: “…‘But I say, do not make any vows! Do not say, ‘By heaven!’ because heaven is God’s throne. And do not say, ‘By the earth!’ because the earth is his footstool. And do not say, ‘By Jerusalem!’ for Jerusalem is the city of the great King. Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black. Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.’ ” (Matthew 5:34-37 NLT).
Giving vows or oaths is not good because they are often said at emotionally charged moments when logical thinking flies out the window, and then, when the emotion has died down, we may end up regretting the vow as Jephthah did. The instruction from Jesus in his sermon is because words have meaning and if we commit to do something there is an obligation to do what we have said.
When this approach is applied to our prayers, we make our prayers transactional, such as, ‘If you solve my financial problems, God, I promise to read my Bible every day.’ Vows make prayer a commodity, an exchange of ‘I’ll do this if you do that’.
This is not what prayer is to be about. It’s not the place to make hasty declarations and it’s not to be used as a bargaining chip. Rather, prayer is spending time with God, speaking and listening to him, getting to know him, and sharing our heart’s desires with him. In other words, prayer is relational.
May our prayers develop a trustful relationship with our loving God.
Prayer
Loving Father, we come before you with a humble heart seeking to deepen our relationship with you. May we draw closer to you, day by day, in Jesus’s name, Amen.
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Study by: Barry Robinson About the author: |
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Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA
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Sunday 12.30 pm
Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church
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