Dear Explorer,
Read John 16:23-27
Jesus states that while He was present, He provided everything that the disciples needed. But after His death, there would be a new way of doing things. They would need to ask the Father to provide for their needs. But they should ask “in Jesus' Name”. Now, we talked about praying in Jesus' name on Day 232, if you need to review that.
So why don't I get what I've prayed for?
We looked at “abiding” on Day 283. Now I want to show you other possible reasons found in other parts of Scripture. They give us a clear set of guidelines to examine the whys:
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." James 4:3 NASB.
"If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear;" Psalm 66:18 NASB.
"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." Matthew 21:22 NASB.
But what if my request passes all the tests: I know it lines up with God's will, I know that it fits God's character and purpose. I'm abiding with Him and feel that I know His will in this matter. I have no wrong motives for asking, there's no personal gain to me, I've examined my heart for sin and I truly believe that God is going to answer. Then, why doesn't He?
All I can tell you is that I've seen 2 different responses from people at this point. I've seen very dedicated, committed followers of Jesus decide to quit obeying and seek other solutions and their lives have crumbled into pieces. They don't lose their salvation; they lose their trust, their witness, and their joy. Their lives become useless for God's Kingdom.
And I've seen very dedicated, committed followers of Jesus decide that following God involves times of not understanding His ways, His plans, His choices. Their lives stand out as beacons of inspiration for the rest of us because even though life is crashing around them, they are strong and sturdy in their belief that God is trustworthy and knows what He's doing.
Sometimes I wonder if God withholds things that we ask for in order to reveal our true trust in Him. I don't believe that there are any unanswered prayers. I believe that God answers each one – sometimes with a “yes”, sometimes with a “wait a while,” and sometimes with a “no”. I also believe that many, many times, God answers in a way that we are not expecting, and we miss it!
Do you realize that if God said “yes” to everything that you asked for – then you are acting like you are greater than God because you don't allow Him to decide what is best for you – you decide it for yourselves. In essence, that is what people get upset about. They have decided what is best and they get mad at God when He doesn't agree with their plan.
It's great to tell God what your heart desires, but we must always put His plans ahead of ours. We must trust that He loves us, knows what is best for us, and will do what is best for us at all times – even when it doesn't look that way.
The final thing I want to mention is found in John 16:26 where Jesus says -- don't pray to me and ask me to ask the Father -- that's not how it works. Just ask the Father for your requests -- and pray in My Name.
I don't know whether you can imagine this or not, but Jesus says that if we are filled with Him, we can walk right up to God's throne and ask Him for anything that we need. That is so awesome! But know that that is not an automatic “yes”.
In His service, dale
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