Our devotional topic this week has been prayer that is dialogue with God — “in the Way of Jesus with the Heart of Jesus”. As our writing team met to consider various aspects of practicing believing prayer, we pondered how we should respond when God answers those prayers.
Over the years some have approached God as they would a heavenly vending machine. Now the capacity of vending machines has been exceeded by 
with its infinite choices and almost instant delivery that can meet practically any material desire. Returns are also easy.
How can we avoid treating our generous God like another version of Amazon Prime?
Here’s a story from the life of Jesus illustrating two different responses to God’s generosity.
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19 NIV [Emphasis added.]
Observe that 90 percent of the seriously ill men either took their healing for granted and moved on or saw no reason to pursue a relationship with Jesus after fulfilling the religious formalities he prescribed.
Another thing to notice is the Samaritan leper (Samaritans were considered heretics), who returned to Jesus and praised God in a loud voice. His joy about the fantastic answer to his plea for healing surged through his being and he could not remain silent. Scripture calls this loudmouth praise “bringing glory to God” — shining the spotlight on God’s gracious intervention in human dilemmas.
One more thing — the Samaritan made an important extra effort to personally give honor and thanks to Jesus for such an obvious role in restoring his life. The Samaritan was in no rush to return to how things had been before his illness. As a result, his healing was fully secured and his life renewed — unlike the 90 percent who seemed unduly cavalier about such profound restoration of their life trajectories.
Meditate on this story. Let it influence your responses when God fulfills your prayers.
by Kathleen Petersen
