I don't know what it is, but somehow, my kids know how to soak me for a few buck every chance they get. It is always a dollar here and a dollar there. Buy me this and buy me that. Those little trouts need to get a job I tell ya.
So last night the kids coaxed me into getting them a "slurpee" (which is code for any slush type drink). They said that they wanted to go through the drive through at Burger King, rather than have to walk into the AM/PM and get the drinks that way.
I was all for it. The Icees at BK are only a buck. The drinks at AM/PM are twice that.
Except deep down in my heart I knew that the ulterior motive behind my children's culinary choice was that they would have the opportunity to up sell their dad to getting more off the menu then they bargained for.
I'm no dummy. I know the trick. Its the "Dad I'm so hungry I haven't eaten in weeks I'm going to die" ploy. Or they "don't you love me enough to get me just one small thing off the dollar menu" ploy. I'm a softie. I always give in.
Now I'm hoping you can follow this, and hopefully you can- We get to the window, and I tell the kids that they get the one dollar drink and they each get one item off the dollar menu. That would bring the bill to about 4 bucks.
At the order microphone, I ordered 2 Icees, a BK single stacker and a Small fry. The total on the screen is over 7 dollars- the screen flashed so fast that if I hadn't seen it, I would have missed it, but they gave me a double stacker ($2) vs a single stacker ($1) so I said, I only wanted a single stacker, not a double, so she says she will have my new order total at the window.
We get to the window, I give her the debit card (crystal and I were in conversation at this point- also the kids are loving each other so loudly that it is distracting) so I am not really listening- I just pay and we go. Enroute Gabe exclaims "We got an extra burger" which turned into "Isn't it wrong to keep this if we didn't pay for it Dad?"
Crystal checks the receipt. We paid for 2 burgers 2 Icees and a small fry. The total was over 6 dollars.
What? How the sam hill did that happen? I'll tell you how it happened- either I wasn't clear enough, or they didn't hear well enough- the order change on the burgers was wrong and here's the kicker and the point of this blog- apparently when you ask for a 'small fry' you don't get the smallest order of fries that they have to offer. You get the order of 'small fries' that costs 1.79. If you want the smallest fries that they offer you must have to ask for the "BK Value Fries" which are 1.29.
I got hosed for an extra 1.50 at least. I'm sure of it.
But as we were driving away, I was thinking- that's kind of like our prayers. We are not clear. We don't listen. We don't ask for specifics. How can we expect God to bless something that we are not asking specifically for? Shouldn't our prayers be specific?
We ask God to 'bless us' but then we don't let him know what area specifically we want the blessing or in what way. God wants to bless us, but we need to let Him know specifics. Sure, he may in his wisdom choose something else for us, but at least from our end we will be clear. If there is something you need or want, make sure you're being clear.
Are you praying specific prayers? Are you letting God know exactly what you need? Be as specific as possible and see what God can do with that prayer. You will see that your prayers will get answered in a different way than before.
Trust me and trust God on this one. Get specific. You might be missing out on $1.50 more of blessings.
Be blessed
pastor matt
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