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Matthew 6:31-33 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

You have seen it in the ministry of Jesus, as we sojourn through the Gospel According to Mark. Crowds of people come to Jesus and his disciples because they have a need. Most of them need a healing or deliverance from demonic forces. Jesus, though, was clear that his Kingdom and his glory was not found in meeting temporal needs. Instead, those miracles all pointed to the need to worship God alone, God first, and God supremely. 

Yet the heart of man in bent toward religiosity. We approach religion as a way to get what we want. If we say the right prayer, we will win the PowerBall. If we just believe rightly, and say the exact words in a prayer, we will be financially secure. If only we can please God in some fashion, he will reward us with the miracle that we seek. 

That is false religion, meant to put us in the driver's seat. We are the one controlling the levers. If we approach God as if he were a machine, and we flip the right levers, push the right buttons, and enter the right codes in sequence, then the output will be favorable. We cannot, ever, reduce the Creator of the universe to a mere machine that we manipulate to get our wishes granted. That is not the Christian faith. 

In India, Hindus travel miles to go to a certain temple, caled the "Visa Temple," to walk in circles and do religious rites so that the Hindu god can grant them a visa. There are similar temples throughout the country that have renoun for specific needs. If you want fertility, relationship restoration, a good job, or better eductation, you go through religious steps to get the output you want. You can read the article on that aspect by clicking --> here <--

The Visa Temple had a 20% decrease in attendance when President Trump took office. Why? Because our government was not granting visas as freely as before. In other words, when the temporal output began to dry up, people stopped coming. This type of worship is tied, directly, to the output of the idol that is supposed to be granting wishes. When the results dry up, worship dries up. 

God is not an idol. He is sovereign over all. He promises that if our hearts are transformed, we can ask what we want and he will give it to us.

John 15:4-7 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 

But that comes from a transformed and abiding heart - not a heart that treats God like some cosmic vending machine. A true worshipper of Jesus will lean in to the life transforming goodness of his gospel, and let the miracles occur within the worshipper's heart and mind, leaving the things of this world to God's soveriegn will and goodness toward all who love him.