Now this is the confidence we have before Him—that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  1 John 5:14, TLV

What I Learned from Skeeball.  Have you ever played games at amusement parks? Generally, it involves a lot of quarters with a minimal return on our investment. Yet, we still like to play them.

My favorite was skeeball. My first attempts at the game were always hit and miss — pun intended — then one day I noticed that for me to have a more accurate aim, I had to hold a ball in my left hand. The right hand did the rolling toward the slots, my left hand kept me balanced.

Another thing I noticed was, no matter how fast the people beside me rolled, I had to pay attention to my efforts in my lane. Balance and focus. Once those skills came into play, there were tickets flowing and my daughter took home an armful of trinkets.

On the day I learned what worked for me, my relationship with the game changed.

And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have the requests we have asked from Him.  (vs. 15, TLV)

Sometimes prayer may feel like a game of skeeball — as much a game of chance as anything. We may not like this, but sometimes it is. A ball rolled here and there with the hope it hits a high score. But, maybe there’s a bigger picture here.

For everyone born of God overcomes the world. And the victory that has overcome the world is this—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, if not the one who believes that Yeshua [Jesus] is Ben-Elohim [the Son of GOD]? (vss. 4-5, TLV)

I chuckled this morning when my first thought as I read today’s verse was skeeball, but as I write this, maybe there are lessons I could learn from the game that apply to prayer.

• First, I made a conscious decision to play the game: that required an investment of time and resources. 
  • Prayer is a conscious decision and does take an investment of time. Prayer is only part of my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Once we choose to present Him our requests — which He’s already known — we might not know the bigger picture, but we’ve made the choice to be there.
• Second, I had to find my “balance” before my aim improved. Discovering that my balance was important was a breakthrough moment. 
  • My revelation about prayer, was what Yeshua taught us about praying — His will be done (Matthew 6:9). I found my balance. In one hand I had my request, in the other hand the knowledge that I also wanted His will — and His will rules.
• Third, I had to ignore what was going on around me. It didn’t matter what others’ scores or “techniques” were, I had to focus on my lane.
  • We all know people that seem to always get what they want whenever they pray. Or they tout techniques or formulas for prayer they insist will work for us. Over the years, I’ve had to respectfully ignore these techniques and formulas. I have to focus on what the word says and that is always, “God’s will be done.” Not my will, His.
• Fourth, the rewards of my efforts were fun, but temporary. The trinkets my daughter took home were exciting, but eventually, they ended up in the trash. The true reward wasn’t just the fun I had playing the game, it was also to see her eyes light up when she could choose her gift. These were memories to treasure, not the trinkets.
  • Prayer is relationship. Connecting with our Heavenly Father is an honor. When we “roll” those prayers, sometimes the prayer is answered with a “yes” or “wait” or “no.” What is most important is that we invest that time to be with Him. Whatever else is secondary — even the request. We’ve all had memory moments in prayer. The connection with Him was so much more important than any request. A request He already knew.

The really cool thing is the more time we spend with our Heavenly Father, the more we hear and learn from Him. We won’t always know His will for a situation, but really if the only reason we pray is to get what we want then we’re really off-balanced, and we’re missing sweet fellowship with the Creator of the Universe. And that’s the best prize ever!