God Is Not a Vending Machine, But He Invites Us to Collect Coins of Faith

More than ever, we live in a world of instant gratification. Hungry? There are a plethora of apps that will have a meal at your door in minutes. In need of groceries? Forget the grocery store, you have fresh produce at your door in a minute. In need of a new outfit? Home decor? A new book? Amazon Prime will have that delivered in two days, and even better when orders arrive between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m .the next day.

In our human condition, it is not unreasonable to want God to work like an instant delivery service, an online shopping platform, or even a vending machine. We put in a request and hope to get back exactly what we want, quickly.

But, that’s not how God works. The phrase, “God’s timing” is usually not associated with quick fixes and rapid turnaround times. Our prayers (inputs) are not guaranteed to give us our intended outputs. Unlike a vending machine, we don’t hit a button and know exactly what we’ll get in return. And honestly, that’s a good thing.

The systems that increasingly define our lives and feed our need for instant gratification are transactional. 

God is relational.

What I Believe About Prayer

I believe in a God who is good. A God who loves us deeply and who wants us to experience joy, fulfillment, and meaning.

I believe in a God who is a friend to us. And like a friend, God is not indifferent to our desires. He cares about them.

He wants us to ask. He wants us to bring everything, big and small, into our relationship with Him.

But, like the great friends in our lives, God does not always give us exactly what we want. God does not always work quickly. Instead, God hears and loves us while also guiding us down the paths that are best for us, even when those paths look different than we expected. 

So instead of thinking of prayer as a coin that can be dropped in for instant gratification, like a vending machine, I think of prayer and faith as instead having two sides of a coin. 

The First Side of the Coin: Ask Boldly 

I imagine God as an abundant Creator who wants us to be happy. He is not limited. Not withholding. And in that abundance, He invites us to collect coins of faith. When I pray, I ask boldly and trust deeply. 

On one side of the coin is this truth:

God wants us to ask for what we need, want, and desire.

Yes, even the small things.

• Help me to find the perfect dress that makes me feel beautiful

• Help me to get through this hard conversation

• Please bring healing to me, my family, and the world

• Please perform a miracle

  
  

When we ask God boldly in faith, something powerful happens.

We tell God:

• I trust You

• I want You involved in my life

• I believe You can act

  
  

But it goes even deeper than that.

Prayer is not just expressive; it is activating.

God designed prayer as a primary way to let us experience Him and His glory in our lives.

When we ask for things in prayer, we are not controlling God, but we are stepping into the very pathway He designed for His power to move. Prayer becomes a catalyst, not because it forces God’s hand, but because something shifts when we ask. 

When we ask for God’s hand in prayer, we are opening our lives to the fullness of what God can do.

This side of the coin is a catalyst for movement, breakthrough, and transformation, not because we make it happen, but because God’s design is to be in relationship with us, and He wants us to ask him directly for what we need. 

Through prayer, we invite God to move more fully in our lives because in His love, He honors our free will and waits to be welcomed in. 

The Second Side of the Coin: Trust Deeply

The other side of the coin is just as important.

When we pray, we are also saying:

• I am willing to align to Your will for my life

• I am letting go of my own control and surrendering to You

• I trust You, even if I don’t understand

• I thank You for everything You are doing in my life

  
  

This is where prayer begins to shape us.

Through prayer, we soften our ego, open our hearts, and choose love over control. 

Our prayers are not guaranteed to be answered in the way we envision. I think that one of the hardest parts of faith is when our prayers are not answered the way we hoped.

We may feel disappointment, grief, anger, confusion, and a myriad of other emotions. 

These feelings are real and deeply human. But even here, something powerful is still happening.

God is still present. God is still working. God is still holding us.

In prayer, we trust that:

• He is good

• He is for us

• He is working all things toward love

God is all of these things, even when we cannot see it.

Holding the Coin in Disappointment

This is where the coin metaphor matters most.

When the answer to our prayers doesn't come, it can feel like nothing happened.

But that’s not true. 

Like a coin used to play the coin pusher arcade games, it may feel like one coin (prayer) isn’t doing anything. But like that same game, if you continue to pray without ceasing, you’ll begin to see and feel the impact of these continual prayers, like coins accumulating to push a prize over the edge. 

If you are waiting for your prayer to be answered, keep asking God. Go back to God again and again until you see even the smallest glimmer of hope (1 Kings 18:43 – 44). And if the ending doesn’t look the way you imagined, trust this: God is still turning it for good (Romans 8:28). 

The coin of faith still has great power.

One side says: I asked. I trusted. I have faith.

The other side says: I am still held. I am still loved. I will not be left alone.

Even in unanswered prayers, sacred connection, trust, and participation in something bigger than ourselves has taken place.

A World That Is Not Always Fair

In holding a coin of faith during disappointment, you may wonder where God is through the war, violence, suffering, and loss that shapes our world. 

Part of practicing prayer is also acknowledging something difficult:

Not everything that happens in our world is what God wants.

God does not delight in suffering. He is not causing harm. But He is present in it, and He meets us through it.

So, amidst a broken world and a failure to guarantee instant gratification, why do we pray?

While there are many sacred reasons that vary for different people, at its core, prayer is one of the primary ways God has chosen to release His power into our lives. Not because we control Him, but because He has chosen prayer as one way to a greater relationship with Him.

Through prayer, we:

• Stay connected

• Experience God’s love

• Invite Him into our lives

• Participate in what He is doing

• 
  

So, while we know that God is not transactional, if we want to fully experience God, we should not hold back.

Don’t be afraid to ask God for exactly what you want.

Ask for:

• The small things

• The everyday things

• The impossible things

• 
  

Ask for miracles.

When you ask God in prayer, you are stepping into the very place where God has chosen to move most powerfully.

And at the same time, hold the other side of the coin. Ask for the grace to align with God’s will.

Be willing to say:

• I trust You, even when I can’t see what You’re doing

• I surrender, even when I can’t understand 

• I believe You will carry me, no matter what

• 
  

When you hold both sides of the coin, you begin to experience something deeper than getting what you want.

You experience a sacred connection, transformation, and deeply relational love that never leaves you. 

Though they are not always answered and do not always provide us with instant gratification, through prayer we can live abundantly, in relationship with a God who invites us to ask, and meets us with both power and presence.