Does God answer ‘selfish prayers’ like paying off debt rather than helping sick kids?
I recently shared how God helped Linda and me pay off our mortgage in just 9 months, and while most of you were incredibly supportive, some questioned the intentions or priorities behind it.
If you’ve ever wondered why God would answer selfish and “superficial” prayers over what might seem like more critical issues, this is a must-read for you.
We’re not just talking dollars and cents; we’re talking about soul-stirring, life-changing stuff here. The kind that makes you rethink not just your finances but your whole life’s purpose.
This could very well be the paradigm shift you need to understand the intertwined beauty of financial stewardship and divine purpose.
You can also watch the recording of our discussion on our SeedTime Money Podcast YouTube channel:
As always, this podcast isn’t just for informational purposes. It’s an invitation to shift perspectives, to think a little deeper, and maybe, just maybe, get one step closer to fulfilling your God-given potential.
Let’s get to it!
Does God answer selfish prayers?
“God helps with superficial, selfish ‘prayers’ but doesn’t save kids.”
This is what someone said to me recently after I shared my story of how God helped us pay off our mortgage in 9 months.
What was interesting to me was that hundreds of commenters joined with me in praising God for the miracle He did, but a few responded with comments like this one.
So, I wanted to address this here.
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have all the answers to her doubts. But I do have a few thoughts that I believe are worth sharing.
1. I share her frustration about sickness and child abuse.
In fact, Linda and I have been in tears together many times as our hearts were breaking for injustice in this area.
And if it were up to me, I would so much rather save a trafficked child than have a paid-off house. And that leads me to my 2nd point…
2. I believe the reason God was interested in us being debt-free is so we could help be the answer to those bigger issues
The fact is that by having a paid-off house, we immediately reduced our expenses by about $2,000/month. This allowed us to greatly increase our giving to organizations that are solving these problems.
And to date, we have been able to give tens of thousands of dollars more towards solving these problems than we would have been able to if we still had a mortgage.
So God, in His infinite wisdom, seems to be using one to help solve the other.
Which leads to the 3rd point…
3. God is playing chess while we’re all playing checkers
We, as humans, just simply can’t possibly understand how God does things. Things often make no sense to our limited thinking and even appear to seem wrong.
But, if God is love (like 1 John 4:16 tells us), then we can trust that His intentions are pure and that He is playing chess at a level we just can’t comprehend.
With that in mind, could it be that our “superficial and selfish” prayers to get our mortgage paid off could actually be the vehicle that God wants to use to answer these deeply significant prayers?
Could it be that God is big enough to both care about seeing you and I debt-free and wanting to see an end to child abuse?