James 4:2-3- "You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions."
Whenever someone asks about "Does God answer every prayer?", there is ultimately an example of someone praying for one million dollars or a Ferrari and a quick explanation of how God like a good Father will not give us things that will lead us away from Him. And I think that is exactly right, but I doubt the majority of those who are reading this ask for a million bucks or a Ferrari.
Take a minute and imagine that there was a journal that contained every prayer you have prayed in your Christian life. If all those prayers were answered exactly as you asked, would the answers lead to God's glory or your own comfort? Would they reflect God's heart or do they just reveal your true wants?
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray He glorified God's name, prayed for HIS will to be done, and asked for God to give the ability to carry out that will. God, take care of my needs. God, forgive me and help me forgive others. God deliver me from falling into temptation (Mt. 6:9-13). Jesus did cry out in His moment of agony that the cup would be taken from Him, but He also quickly submits and says "Not my will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
James 4 warns about love for worldly things and living for one's passions instead of surrendering to God. He even states that we are not receiving answer from prayers because we are praying to indulge our passions. And we live in a time and place where the idols of comfort and materialism wage war against us. Could it be the majority of things we are asking for are meant for our own prosperity instead of God's glory? When the majority of our prayers are for safety or success at work or for good health or that God would eliminate the stress in our life, don't we reveal that our main concern is simply to be comfortable? And don’t get me wrong these prayers aren’t necessarily bad, but we must look at the heart behind them. Do we pray for good health so we can better serve the Lord with our bodies? Is our motivation for a work promotion to use our income and influence to extend God’s kingdom? Or is it simply because we want a life of comfort and don’t want to feel pain? Because if all we are praying for is for an easy, comfortable life then we probably aren’t praying according to God’s will. James 4:4 states that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Asking God to help me obtain my worldly pursuits would be the equivalent of me asking my wife to help me fall in love with another woman. It is adulterous!
Most of these prayers come from anxiety, and when we are anxious about anything we should present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6-7). Yet as we mature as believers our lives should start evidencing that we are more concerned with God's will than our own desires. Our prayers should sound like they came straight out of our Bible because in the process of being sanctified our hearts should resemble Jesus' heart more and more. We should no longer desire for us to be exalted, but rather our desire should be that God be exalted. And the word reminds us that if God is for us, nothing can be against us (Romans 8:31). So I know I have the strength to endure any suffering or trials that may be ahead of me because God is with me and He is on my side. And I know what Jesus went through, yet it all resulted in His glorious resurrection! So I can temporarily endure suffering in order to gain eternal reward.
So will you join me in altering our prayers? Instead of praying that we will be comfortable, can we pray that God's refining fire would burn up the impurities within us no matter how much pain it will bring? Can we pray our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters would be completely obedient to God's perfect will even if it endangers our physical health, relationships, or bank accounts? Instead of praying that God would remove the trials in front of us, can we pray that God would give us the endurance and patience to persevere? Can we pray that God would just give us our daily bread, to forgive us and help us forgive, to help us resist temptation and be delivered from evil, and to let His will be done as it is in heaven? (Mt. 6:9-13)
Whenever someone asks about "Does God answer every prayer?", there is ultimately an example of someone praying for one million dollars or a Ferrari and a quick explanation of how God like a good Father will not give us things that will lead us away from Him. And I think that is exactly right, but I doubt the majority of those who are reading this ask for a million bucks or a Ferrari.
Take a minute and imagine that there was a journal that contained every prayer you have prayed in your Christian life. If all those prayers were answered exactly as you asked, would the answers lead to God's glory or your own comfort? Would they reflect God's heart or do they just reveal your true wants?
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray He glorified God's name, prayed for HIS will to be done, and asked for God to give the ability to carry out that will. God, take care of my needs. God, forgive me and help me forgive others. God deliver me from falling into temptation (Mt. 6:9-13). Jesus did cry out in His moment of agony that the cup would be taken from Him, but He also quickly submits and says "Not my will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42).
James 4 warns about love for worldly things and living for one's passions instead of surrendering to God. He even states that we are not receiving answer from prayers because we are praying to indulge our passions. And we live in a time and place where the idols of comfort and materialism wage war against us. Could it be the majority of things we are asking for are meant for our own prosperity instead of God's glory? When the majority of our prayers are for safety or success at work or for good health or that God would eliminate the stress in our life, don't we reveal that our main concern is simply to be comfortable? And don’t get me wrong these prayers aren’t necessarily bad, but we must look at the heart behind them. Do we pray for good health so we can better serve the Lord with our bodies? Is our motivation for a work promotion to use our income and influence to extend God’s kingdom? Or is it simply because we want a life of comfort and don’t want to feel pain? Because if all we are praying for is for an easy, comfortable life then we probably aren’t praying according to God’s will. James 4:4 states that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Asking God to help me obtain my worldly pursuits would be the equivalent of me asking my wife to help me fall in love with another woman. It is adulterous!
Most of these prayers come from anxiety, and when we are anxious about anything we should present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6-7). Yet as we mature as believers our lives should start evidencing that we are more concerned with God's will than our own desires. Our prayers should sound like they came straight out of our Bible because in the process of being sanctified our hearts should resemble Jesus' heart more and more. We should no longer desire for us to be exalted, but rather our desire should be that God be exalted. And the word reminds us that if God is for us, nothing can be against us (Romans 8:31). So I know I have the strength to endure any suffering or trials that may be ahead of me because God is with me and He is on my side. And I know what Jesus went through, yet it all resulted in His glorious resurrection! So I can temporarily endure suffering in order to gain eternal reward.
So will you join me in altering our prayers? Instead of praying that we will be comfortable, can we pray that God's refining fire would burn up the impurities within us no matter how much pain it will bring? Can we pray our lives and the lives of our brothers and sisters would be completely obedient to God's perfect will even if it endangers our physical health, relationships, or bank accounts? Instead of praying that God would remove the trials in front of us, can we pray that God would give us the endurance and patience to persevere? Can we pray that God would just give us our daily bread, to forgive us and help us forgive, to help us resist temptation and be delivered from evil, and to let His will be done as it is in heaven? (Mt. 6:9-13)