We all make deals with God. We all say, “If I do this, then God will do that.” But what happens when we don’t get what we want?
The Bible has a lot of verses about making deals with God. The problem is, they’re not always easy to understand. Here are some of the most important ones:
“For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).”
“Behold, I am coming soon!” Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book (Revelation 22:7).”
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God (Philippians 4:6).”
And more!
Bible Verses About Making Deals With God
Introduction
The question of whether or not God makes deals with people is a popular subject on the Internet. There are many who claim that they have made deals with God and that He has come through for them. Their testimony can be very convincing to those who are not familiar with the Bible and biblical principles. The following points, however, will provide you with a biblical perspective on the subject:
Bible verses about making deals with God
When it comes to making deals with God, the Bible has a lot to say. The Bible says that we should not make deals with God. It states that God is not a man that he should lie and change his mind.
It also says that we should not make deals with our enemies because they will destroy us from being able to make any kind of deal at all when we become desperate enough for mercy or help from them.
It also says that if you do make a deal with your enemies then don’t expect anything good out of it because they won’t keep their promise either!
- The premise is wrong.
The premise is wrong. The idea that a deal can be made with God is based on the assumption that God, like man, is not perfect in His character or actions. It assumes that He has needs and desires that can be satisfied by an animal sacrifice or some sort of quid pro quo arrangement where we do enough good deeds and then He will give us what we want. But this is not true!
God tells us through His word (the Bible) why He does what he does: “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt” (Romans 4:4). So if you think your good deeds will induce God to give you something like eternal life or prosperity here on earth, guess again! You are “unrighteous” because your works don’t flow from a heart filled with love for God—and love for others cannot save us from our sins unless it comes from faith in Christ Jesus alone (John 3:16).
- Making deals with God is nothing new, but it is foolish.
Making deals with God is nothing new. The Bible records several examples of people trying to outsmart or bargain with God, but they all end in failure. In fact, many of those who tried to make a deal ended up suffering because of it.
In the book of Job, Job’s wife told him that he should curse God and die if he could (Job 2:9). Why would she say this? She thought it would be better for Job to die than suffer what she thought was unjust punishment from God for no reason at all.
Job’s friend Eliphaz compared himself favorably with Job by saying that he was better than his friend because he had not charged God with unrighteousness nor questioned His wisdom (Job 5:17). In other words, Eliphaz boasted about how much smarter he was than his friend; apparently, he thought that if you criticized God then He wouldn’t punish you like He did Job! But by saying this, Eliphaz was making a bad deal indeed—Joseph Ritzenthaler points out in his book “The Christian’s Handbook on Demonology” that such arrogance leads directly into demonic influence–so make sure not to try this method yourself!
- You can’t make deals with God because you don’t have anything to give Him.
You can’t make deals with God because you don’t have anything to give him. If you think about it, what do you have that God might want? Nothing! You don’t have any money or power or success or fame to offer him in exchange for what you want. The only thing we can give God is our faith and trust in Him—and that’s not something we can buy with our own efforts.
That being said, there are times when we need to ask for specific things from God as part of a deal: “Give me a job at this place! Please send me some extra money this month! Make sure my daughter passes her math test! And so on…” But even then, we must remember that no matter how important or urgent those requests may seem, they are still just temporary; eventually the deal will end and our lives will go back to normal (or whatever kind of life we were living before making the deal in the first place).
- Anything you can do as a human being God can do better.
Your human abilities are limited by your finite human nature. God is not. He created the universe and everything in it, and He can do anything—better than you, more efficiently than you, more effectively than you, more wisely than you and with greater perfection than any human being could ever hope to achieve on their own.
God made the world perfect from the beginning (Genesis 1:31). But when Adam sinned against God by disobeying His command not to eat of the fruit of one particular tree (Genesis 2:17), he brought death into this world as a result of his actions (Romans 5:12). From that moment forward there have been consequences for all people who choose evil over good because we all have a sinful nature inherited from Adam (Romans 3:23; 5:12; 7:5-6).
- Making deals with God is self-defeating and unproductive.
Making deals with God is self-defeating and unproductive. God is the only one who can save you. If you think that you can save yourself, or if someone else thinks they can save themselves, they are simply fooling themselves. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1:27-28 “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose things despised by the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are…”
God wants us to come back into relationship with Him because we need Him! We need His mercy and grace every day because we are sinners who have fallen short of His glory (Romans 3:23). Our own attempts at goodness won’t save us from our sin nature because no matter how hard we try, we always end up falling short of what it means to be like Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:48). Our good works will never be enough for God because He wants something more than our best efforts – He wants total surrender (Romans 12:1-2).
- Everyone’s life will end in the same place whether they make a deal or not.
Let me ask you something. If someone told you that they could help you get a new car, would you make a deal with them? Of course not! That’s just crazy talk. But when it comes to making deals with God, we don’t think twice about it. You can’t just go around making deals with God every time He says something that doesn’t sound good enough or doesn’t fit your plans perfectly.
God is not a man who changes His mind based on what people say or do (Numbers 23:19). And He will never change His mind about your eternal destination—He has already decided where everyone will end up when the final day comes (John 14:6; Romans 8:29).
- Making deals with God will not save you from judgment if your life is not right with Him when you die
God will not be mocked. God will not be tricked into saving you or doing something for you. If your life is not right with Him when you die, then He will judge you according to the standards that He has set forth.
In addition, making deals with God will not work because making deals with God is what got Adam and Eve in trouble in the first place! They tried to bribe God into not eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil by promising Him that they would obey Him if their lives were spared (Genesis 2:17-18). When God saw their hearts were still wicked even after being given everything they could ever want or need on earth (Genesis 3:1), He had no choice but to judge them as sinners deserving of death just like any other human being (Romans 5:12).
Making deals with God is unscriptural and foolish
Making deals with God is unscriptural and foolish.
The Bible says that all people are sinners, and thus will die. Furthermore, when we die, we will be judged by God for our sins; the Bible says that there is no one who can escape this judgment. The Bible also tells us in 1 John 5:18 that those who believe in Jesus Christ will not perish but have everlasting life instead—but how can someone believe in Jesus if they don’t exist?
Conclusion
Making deals with God is an unscriptural and foolish practice. The premise of the deal is wrong; we have nothing to give Him. It’s useless because He can do anything better than we can, and it’s self-defeating because He will not be bound by our word anyway! We cannot bargain for eternal life on earth or heaven with God—it must be a free gift from His grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
