Surely we’ve all done it. We pray those prayers that we know we shouldn’t because we think we can make some sort of deal with God.

The, “Please let us win this game and I will make more of an effort to be a nicer person. Not that I don’t make an effort now, but I will make so much more of an effort from now on… and BECAUSE of that, You could maybe let us win this game?”

Or the more serious, “Please, Lord, save my dog and I will volunteer more often in the community.”

Whatever the case, it’s a prayer that we might later regret and it’s easy to assume that God is only looking down on us shaking His head. We also very often fall through with our promises that we make to God. So why do we try to bargain with Him?

God tells us that we are forgiven, but we need to have a relationship with Him and try to honor Him in the way that we live. We need to love thy neighbor, not steal, not take the name of the Lord in vain, and so on. We also need not expect God to always give us what we want. Our unanswered prayers can oftentimes be a blessing in disguise anyway, and God knows better than we do what is best for us.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” -Jeremiah 29:11

Do you have any prayers that you sometimes regret making?