Stupid Vending Machine

Recently I had the opportunity to talk to our high schoolers on prayer, I had the room go completely silent for five minutes as we participated in a different form of prayer that was unique to many in the room. I thought I would share with my friends what I said before the moment captured above:

I called the message: Stupid Vending Machine

If we’re going to be honest, prayer can be boring. Forgetting to pray can so easily become a habit due to the mundanity of it. Is it possible to have a vibrant, colorful prayer life?

The answer is yes.

…but we have to stop treating God as a vending machine. 

When we only come to God wanting something, we can slowly reduce God down to our vessel, our assistant fulfilling our own agenda. Just like any thriving relationship, it takes more than just asking for things! It takes a disposition of thanksgiving, commitment, and supplication. Prayer is a dialogue with the divine, and he doesn’t just want to be a vending machine.