C'mon on,God, You Owe me!

"Lord, I need your help! A teachers strike, a blizzard, a power failure, I'll take anything."
- Bart Simpson, after failing to study for an upcoming test.


 "Prayer, the last refuge of the scoundrel." - Lisa, shaking her head in disbelief at her brother's actions.


After digging through some old files on teachings I used as a Youth Pastor, I found this gem on the longest running program on television, 25 years to be exact, The Simpsons.  Surprisingly, season after season the
Simpsons have continued to pray; prayer and appeals to God are more routine and a regular part of the Simpson's family life. Now granted, some of those prayers may be selfish prayers, but there always seems to be a profound message in it. There are more prayers on The Simpsons than any sitcom in television history.
One of the producer's of the show exclaims,
 " We try to represent people's honest attitudes toward religion."

And unfortunately, that honest attitude toward God does show up within our culture.

"I need a miracle. C'mon God, you owe me!" - Lisa, before taking a test she feels unprepared for.

Most of the children's prayers on the Simpsons is what we call the bail me out theory. And who is the culprit on teaching this to the kids? Their father, Homer Simpson.

"Dear God, just give me one channel!" - Homer, when the television reception goes out.

"God, if you are really God, you'll give me tickets to that football game."

"What's the big deal about going to some building on Sunday? Isn't God everywhere?"

You see? These are just a reflection of Homer's attitude that has a ripple affect on his children. Something all parents need to be aware of at all times.

The following excerpt is taken from the book The Gospel According to the Simpsons:

When Homer is in deep trouble he turns to God and begs for miracles, but when miracles happen they don't make him into the man of faith that he should be for his children. God for him is somebody you bargain with in times of trouble, making promises to change but never living it out.

Wow! How many people do you know that are like this?

How many of you have made the resolution to live it out more for God this year? What hinders us from following out the act of living it out is either our flesh or our circumstances. And what gets in the way the most is our feelings and emotions. As we are still in the first month of this new year, it is not too late to start the year with a fresh perspective and leaving the past behind.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Prayer for Homer Simpson is not a time of intimate communion with God. But instead, something you do when you can't get what you want on your own. God does not want us to treat Him like Santa Claus nor use our prayer as a last resort. What God does want from us is an intimate communion with Him, which is what prayer and worship does. If we are going to make that resolution of living it out, we need to be active participants in fellowship with our Creator.

I have not watched The Simpsons in recent years, and I am not here to promote the show for your kids to watch; but if you can find it in reruns in your area and are able to find a description of the episodes, there are some that do have a message about God and prayer.