dev184 - The Gypsy's Prayer

Evil plans are an abomination to the LORD,

    But pleasant words are pure.

Proverbs 15:26

A few weeks ago during my trip to Rome I met a man with what I consider to be a very challenging job. His trade: being a witness of God’s love to a group of people who have a reputation for being the biggest crooks and thieves in the world – the Roma people. These roaming gypsies are known throughout Europe for their quick hands that are skilled at relieving you of your wallet and their clever scams that weasel you into giving them money. They raise their children to be as good as they are in these schemes, continuing a cycle of a people group whose entire goal is to be a leach on whatever country they live in while invading the fanny packs of as many tourists as possible.

This worker gave me some very fascinating insights about his experience working with these beggars and thieves. He told me that if I wanted to feel good about myself he could take me to preach to a large group of Roma that he could easily gather together. After I preach I could give an invitation in which 100% of those present would state that they want to give their lives to Christ. After this, I could come back to preach to them the next day, and again they would all give their lives to Christ. They would buy whatever I was selling.

Yet one of the most interesting things he told me was about a conversation he had with one particular Roma man. They were talking about prayer and about the need we have to express our dependence on God and ask Him for our daily essentials. In the course of that discourse the man said something that I found to be both ridiculous and disturbing. He said, “Oh yes, of course we should ask God for help. I ask God to help and protect me every day before I go out stealing.”

On the surface, this statement is laughable because of its absurdity. God is not in the business of helping people steal. Stealing is sinful and there is no excuse for someone living in and promoting this lifestyle. The Bible teaches that such a life is not compatible with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. One cannot plead ignorance to the wrongness of stealing, as everyone born under the sun knows in their hearts that stealing is wicked. Yet, for this man who has developed a lifestyle of sin, he has so blinded himself to his own injustices that he is asking the One who will see this stealing as rebellion to help him. He is asking the judge of the court to help him steal money from the state.

Do we ever get to the point in our disobedience that we ask God to help us be worse followers of Christ? Sadly, I think there are ways we can see this mindset running rampant in our society, though perhaps not as perceptibly as we see in this gypsy. Those who think that God exists to make them rich, heaping up for themselves treasures on this earth and ignoring the needs of the world all the while asking God to help them get more money, have they not become so delusional that they have become blinded to the fact that they are doing the same thing that this professional thief is doing? Those who pray that evil may be done to someone who needs the Lord or that God could help them keep their idols prominent are doing the same thing. It is scary to know that our sin can so deceive and indwell us that we could actually ask a righteous God to help us in such endeavors.

God is not going to help this gypsy in his plans. Evil plans are an abomination to the Lord and will receive his judgment. Let us watch carefully what we pray for, as often our prayers reveal what our greatest desires are. If our greatest desires are revealed to be the glory of the name of the Lord amongst the nations and in our churches and families, then let us continue earnestly in our supplications. If our prayers reveal our greatest desire to be burglary and idolatry, let us bow our self-deceived hearts in repentance. May our plans be committed to the Lord, and, if they are not, by all means in His mercy let them be thwarted.