Does God Care About Scrabble?

We know we can ask for God’s help in any situation. If a loved one has fallen ill, if our job is in jeopardy, or if we’re faced with a dangerous situation, most of us trust that sending up a prayer will bring down a multitude of blessings. But what about when the situation is a lot less dramatic? Does God have our back when the results seem to be of little consequence?

Once, I was playing the board game Scrabble with some family members. We were having a great time and I was enjoying a pretty good lead. That’s until my closest rival scored big by using all her tiles and getting a few bonus points, as well. With only a few turns left in the game and the score close to tied, I said a little prayer out loud, “Lord help me to win this game!” Immediately, I heard someone say, “God doesn’t care about Scrabble!” Without a beat, I responded, “If it’s important to me, it’s important to Him!”

My faith includes the trust that I can ask God for His help in anything in my life—even the minutia. 1 John 5:14-15 confirms this faith: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”

How do we know that what we ask is within His will? I think we can be pretty sure that as long as it’s not against his commands, we are not asking amiss. For example, I don’t think God would honor a request to kill someone who we don’t get along with. But I believe He would hear a prayer to improve the relationship with that person—and bless us accordingly.

So how does a prayer for a Scrabble game fit within God’s will? Maybe it was a demonstration of faith that helped someone else in their spiritual walk. Maybe it was a self-affirmation of my own trust in Him. Maybe it was an event in my life that occurred solely for the purposes of this blog! In the end I won the game—but more importantly, it was a teaching moment. Our cares are God’s cares, and He won’t let us down. Because even if I had lost, I would have still been able to praise Him for an enjoyable time with my family.

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!