09/19/2021
When we pray and do not receive it can be because we are meant to wait, but many times it is because our motives are not right, and we are not praying for those things that are in accordance with the will of God. When we are preparing to ask Him for something have we examined our own desires, and insured that we are not asking out of our selfish earthly vanities, or wants? Are we asking as we should for something meant to glorify God? Are we praying rightly?
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
James 4:3 ESV
On any given day, when two football teams take to the field, there will be prayers offered by each of them, and their fans, asking God for victory. However, only one of the teams can be victorious at the end of the contest, so which one’s prayer will be answered, or will either of them be given victory over the other by God’s hand? As we view these prayers are they being asked that God be glorified in them, or simply to appease our own pride, or perhaps our selfish desires? Are our hearts and spiritual attentions focused rightly on the Lord, or simply on advancing our own self-interests, and the mechanisms of the world? Have we prayed a “feel good” prayer meant to satisfy our own wants, or one that might cause us to suffer, or even lose the contest if ultimately the Lord would be glorified in our loss? Is our prayer meant to advance a greater spiritual cause? If we can answer truthfully that our prayers for victory are meant to satisfy God’s greater will, and His glory, not ours, then we will have answered this question, and solved this mysterious puzzle, the enigma regarding prayer.
“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.”
1 John 5:14-15 ESV
The example of a football game might seem trite to you so consider this scenario. You know a couple that has a toddler with a congenital heart defect and can only be saved if it receives a heart transplant. So you have been praying for a heart. But tonight, across town, another of your friends has a toddler that has been involved in a tragic accident, and it’s parents are praying mightily for a miraculous healing, so that their child will live. If the second one dies then the first will receive its heart and live. How do you pray?
Many times our prayers are quite complex, and not as cut and dried as we might first perceive them to be. So how do we pray? Well, we should always pray as Jesus did… that God’s will be done.
“And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.””
Luke 22:41-42 ESV
Our will is tainted by our limited perception of life, and by our human frailties, but God’s will is perfect and good. In the process of achieving His will He works all thing for our good if we love Him.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28 ESV
Sometimes this is hard for us to see. Take Job for instance; he lost all of his children while Satan sifted him. You read this account and ask yourself how this can possibly be used for good.
“While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.””
Job 1:18-19 ESV
Even though Job’s fortunes and family were restored to him when Satan’s testing was brought to an end, the children he received in restoration were not those who had died; they were new children. So we still remain perplexed regarding answered prayer because we know that we love each of our own children for who they are individually… not simply by their sex or number.
“And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.”
Job 42:12-13, 15 ESV
So Job suffered, but in the end he remained within God’s will, and continued to glorify Him. Similar to Jesus, Job suffered in his life, but in the end God’s will was done on earth, and even though Job’s prayers were answered quite differently than expected, or desired, the answer was nonetheless good, and we know this by our accordance of God’s promise. We trust that at the end of days his original children were reunited with him. Listen to how Job kept them righteous…
“His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.”
Job 1:4-5 ESV
So let’s examine our own prayers by asking ourselves if they are true to the will of God, and are meant to glorify Him. Let’s answer the question we initially began with “ Are we praying rightly?”
Prayer:
Father, thank you for answering our prayers, and leading us in our lives according to your will. Show us the perfect nature of your will for us, and your ultimate goodness in it. Lead us by your Holy Spirit to pray as we should, and to rightly ask only those things that serve you, and bring you glory. Help us in our unbelief, and strengthen our faith as we suffer through our earthly lives. Never allow us to slip from your way, or lose faith in your love and goodness. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who walks with us, and talks with us every day. Great are you who wants what is best for us, and desires that we look to you for our every need. Teach us not to judge you, or your motives, when our prayers go unanswered, but to turn inward Father, and examine our own hearts and prayer. Praised be your name Lord when our prayers are answered and we realize that we are within you will, glorifying you, and praying rightly. Wash us clean with the blood of Jesus each time we come before you. Let the droplets of blood He sweated be dripping from us as we pray, and His amazing forgiveness offered from the cross be on our lips too. Forgive us Father. Find us worthy in your grace which flows through Christ, and in the moment of our final judgement see Jesus in us as you announce your pleasure in who we have become. Seat us at your table Father, and feed us with your Word as we worship you forevermore. Your will be done, all glory now yours, and we your children for all eternity.
“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV
Rich Forbes