You shall not put the Lord your God to the test

There comes a time in each of our lives when we face disappointment. We prayed for something and it did not turn out as we wanted. We prayed, we prayed again and we waited and the situation would not change. At these times we are tempted to say ‘What’s the use of praying if God will not answer my prayer.’ We get angry with God.

I believe the devil’s third temptation in this week’s Gospel and Jesus’ response is the way we must approach these occasions Luke 4: 1-13 ‘And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you’, and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

So often, we subtly put the Lord our God to the test. In our hearts, we demand that God prove His love by answering our prayers exactly as we wish. We treat faith like a transaction—if we pray fervently, if we remain faithful, then surely God must grant our desires.

When He does not, we feel betrayed, questioning His goodness or even His existence. Yet Jesus shows us another way. His response to the devil reminds us that true faith trusts in God’s wisdom, not just His power.

We are called to surrender, to believe that even in disappointment, God is still at work, guiding us toward something greater than we can see. Our prayers are always heard, but the answers may unfold in ways beyond our understanding.

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, ‘please Father take this cup from me’, as he recoiled in anticipation of the passion and crucifixion. But He did not stop there, He went on - ‘but not my will but thine be done.’ We pray, we ask - then we trust in God the Father’s will, who loves us more than we love ourselves.

Friend, this Lent, let us pray that God will answer our prayers. But more than this, let us pray that we grow to trust in His divine love for us and that we accept His will for our lives.

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