The second misconception of God that I must avoid is that He is able to be manipulated. The modern manipulation of God is extremely subtle, but the heart of it lies in a kind of evangelical humanism. God is looked upon as existing to serve my ends; not I existing to serve God’s ends. There are two biblical examples of this: Simon the magician and Micah the Ephraimite.
Simon wanted to buy the Holy Spirit with money, to add to his storehouse of magical powers. So offended was Simon Peter that he responded: “You are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity” (Acts 8:23). That gross usage of God was commercial in motive; Simon simply wanted to get rich by using God. The same motive drove Micah of Ephraim to set up a shrine in his home and to hire a Levite to become his priest. “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest” (Judges 17:10–13). That manipulation of God had no reference to obedience, worship, or the glorification of God; it was the same as the worship of idols.
Perhaps my use of God is nowhere near the crude misuse of Him by those two, but the pressure to bargain or bribe is always there. Do I pray, attend church, and tithe my income in order to receive special favors, or do I do those things out of realizing who God is and for the joy of obeying the majestic, glorious God of the universe? Do I seek to please Him in order that my loved one may be healed, or is it because I love Him so much I could not do otherwise? Do I write “for my gain” or “for God’s glory” underneath everything I do for Him? The difference is manipulating God or ascribing my song of praise to His worthiness. “Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created” (Revelation 4:11)
“O Lord, Thou art my God; I Will exalt Thee, I will give thanks to Thy name; for Thou hast worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness (Isaiah 25:1).
Daily with the King 