People ask all the time, "when should I expect an answer to a prayer and when should I ask?" The truth is when we go to our Father with our petition, I believe when we know it is the will of God, we should come with expectancy. For example, if you are struggling financially and need to buy groceries for your family, the Lord will provide. It is not His desire for you and your family not to be able to eat. If you are praying for your electric not to be disconnected, I know my Lord wants us to come to Him thanking him for restoring our electricity and working it out rather than asking if it if His will to please keep the electric on. However....when we want a Mercedes Benz as our vehicle, do you think it is God's will for that or would you consider that a special blessing? In other words, the Lord desires to bless us and grant our heart's desires, but it must line up with His will and His word. And I believe it all comes back to the fact that in all things, He should be glorified. Having said that, there are times when I thank the Lord in advance for answering my prayer. I expect it and claim it. And there are times when I respectfully ask if it is of His will for my life and if He should tarry, then let it be done. I shared before the story when I was "praying a woman out of my office". I prayed from July 4th through October the same prayer day after day and it was, "Lord please remove this woman from our office with grace and mercy, grace for her and mercy for me." It was not until one morning the Lord interrupted my daily request and told me I was not praying right; that I was telling Him and not asking if it was of His will. So I changed my prayer that morning to, "Lord if it is your will to remove this woman please do so, if her heart is black but if she is of innocent intent and I am just paranoid than please allow her to stay with my department til the day you call her home, like Carole" and guess what? She was gone in two weeks. True story. So...I have first hand experience that there are times He wants us to seek His will and not just seek our desires so....be mindful of what you are praying for. Take note of what is being answered and what isn't. I know some that actually write their prayer requests down and the results of them so that is kind of neat. But the truth is the Lord loves us and promises us a life in abundance and all He wants us to do is simply listen and obey and be still in Him. I take everything to Him in prayer, I am specific and I am thankful. I am repented in spirit and then I am still. As your prayer life changes and evolves, so will your walk and you will grow mature in spirit so take it all to Him and never ever be afraid to ask. He is waiting.......
Philippians 4:4-7
4 pRejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. qThe Lord is at hand; 6 rdo not be anxious about anything, sbut in everything by prayer and supplication twith thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And uthe peace of God, vwhich surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment