The Bag Man

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves   2 Corinthians 4:7 

Of God – God’s gifts are never for us.  They are for Him.  God does not give you anything so that you own it.  You are never the owner.  You are only the steward.  The purpose of God’s gifts is to glory the Giver, not to enhance the receiver.  That’s why what you often receive from God is not what you expected.  God gives to glorify Himself.  The fact that you benefit is only a by-product of the actual purpose of the gift.  Do you really understand what that means?  Does it change your perception of answered prayer?  Does it change what you ask for?

Paul makes it very clear that we, the paper-bag containers of the glory of God, have been given the gift of weakness, dependence and frailty.  We are not golden urns.  We are simple paper bags.  The treasure we contain does not come gloriously gift-wrapped.  It comes in a flimsy grocery sack.  Why?  Because the purpose of the treasure is not the enhancement of the bag.  The purpose of the treasure is to glorify the Giver.  God places all His power in a paper bag so that we can never claim the power came from us.  All of God’s majesty must be designed and transported in ways that reveal Who He is, not who I happen to be.  Imagine putting the light of the sun into a paper bag.  The bag just wouldn’t be able to hold it.  That’s the idea.  No one should ever mistake the glory of God in you for the paper bag container.

Tou Theou, the Greek noun in the possessive case, boldly proclaims that this treasure is God’s treasure, not mine.  I am merely the agent of its execution.  I am only the bag man.  And any proper use of this treasure will display the real owner, by whose authority I act.  Why?  Because God does not share His power with paper-bag people.  He uses paper-bag people to bring His power into the world.

When you pray, you are asking God to make His presence visible in this world through you, the bag man.  If you are praying for any other purpose, don’t expect an answer.  And when God answers your prayer, expect the paper bag to burst apart with the glory of the Creator. 

Is that how you pray?