WALDROP: Biblical people who ‘bargained’ with God

Rev. Russell G. Waldrop, D. Min., LPC, is a pastoral counselor and is chaplain of Western State Hospital. Contact him at: 540-332-8004 or .
Published: October 3, 2008

We have been exploring bargaining, the third stage of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ “Five Stages of Grief.” We look today at some Biblical people who bargained with God and at God’s response to them.
Consider the prayer of the “Prodigal Son,” who abandoned his family and squandered his inheritance before settling down in a pig sty. Coming to his senses, he rehearsed a “spontaneous” speech: “I’ll say, ‘Look, Dad. I know I’m no good. I sinned against you and God. If you hire me as a servant, I’ll earn my food and lodging from now on. Ok, Dad?’ ” (Luke 15:18-19).
Manipulative as he is, he does go home and talk to his father, who ignores the prayer, embraces his son, gives him fresh clothes and expensive jewelry and throws him a party. Indeed, we can be harder on ourselves for “praying wrong” than our Heavenly Father ever would be. Like the Prodigal’s father, God reads our hearts, not our theological statements; our faith, not our doctrinal purity; and our sincerity, not our grammatical syntax.
Listen to Jacob’s prayer during his journey toward reconciliation with his family: “Lord, if you will be with me and protect me on this trip I’m taking; and give me food and clothing for it; and, if I return safely to my father’s home, then you will be my God.” (Gen. 28:20-22).
We appreciate his prayer for what we call “travel mercies” today. But we question his “conditional” faith, “... then you will be my God.” What, only “then,” after he is safely home? But we notice something by the end of the story: God had co-signed the bargain with him!
Hannah bargained with God concerning her lifelong inability to have a baby: “If you give me a son, I promise to dedicate him to you for his whole life and that he will never have his hair cut” (1Sam. 1:11b). Is such a “conditional” promise acceptable to God? Well, the prophet Samuel grew up calling Hannah “Mommy,” so God must have been listening all those years when she had been praying, bargaining though she was.
When God planned to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham bargained for the city to be spared if 50 righteous people lived there (Gen. 18:22-33). When God agreed, Abraham successfully bargained God down from 50 to 45 to 40 to 30 to 20, and then to 10 righteous people. We wonder if God was annoyed with Abraham somewhere between 40 and 20. Hardly. In fact, God probably enjoyed their conversation.
King Hezekiah, upon learning that he was terminally ill and would die soon, bargained God into an additional 15 years of life (2Kings 20:1-6). If God answers the prayer of someone bargaining their way through grief, then surely, he will at least listen to ours.
God may not answer every prayer to our complete satisfaction. He is, however, listening to them, even the inappropriate ones; like parents do with their children
Some common themes run through these Biblical bargaining prayers. Practically speaking, each person had a relationship to God; each prayer had a condition attached to it; each prayer involved more than the person offering the prayer; each person took the risk of praying an imperfect prayer and everyone was trying to avoid some kind of reality.
Yet, God molded each person into an instrument of blessing for their family, community, city, or a nation. In other words, everyone got quite a bargain.
Isn’t it better to seek a bargain with God than not to pray at all?
(Next week — Stage four: Depression)