Text: Luke 11:5-13, Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 22:39-44, James 5:13-18
Of the many types of prayer in the Christian life, petition is often the most common. Whether we are crying out, begging, sending a quick thought up, or in a group assembling requests – our prayers tend to lean toward us asking the Lord to grant what we want or need. This is a beautiful and good thing, since He created us to come to Him and live in relationship with Him.
Still, if God is sovereign and all knowing, why bother asking Him to do or change anything? If you pray for one thing and get another, does that mean He wasn’t listening? Does it mean that you didn’t ask with the right words or with enough fervor or faith?
We ask from God what we believe we need, but we submit what we ask to His all wise, all good plan and we say like Jesus, “Not my will, but your will be done.” (Luke 22:42) One example of this would be Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where he asks for the cup of wrath to be removed from him (that’s his petition), but he submits his petition to the will of the Father, for he trusts what God would give him more than what he would ask. In that instance, Jesus did not “get” what he prayed for, but he got the better (albeit harder) thing–the cross unto the crown.
When we pray in petition “according to God’s will,” we know that God will answer it. For instance, if we pray for “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven,” that is a prayer that God is inclined to answer, for that is a prayer that is God’s heart. At the same time, how that kingdom comes and how that will is done will be done according to God’s time and in God’s way. So, it’s not a magic formula or some incantation where we get God to do our thing, but it is a confident petitioning in faith that however God wants to answer this prayer, he certainly will because it’s a prayer that aligns with his heart.
While God has had one decree from the beginning of time, we know that a sure part of that decree is that we live in relationship with Him, and even petition Him. His Word tells us so.
Ask – because He wants to meet your needs. Seek, because you’ll find Him faithful. Knock, because your persistent pursuit of relationship with Him will find you nothing but peace and sustainment.
This is a very timely post for me as well. I definitely struggle with being persistent in prayer, especially when it involves praying for a certain person to come to The Lord. I know it's God's will for all to know him, but I also know that he gave us free will and he never forces us to choose Him! But, I think the act of persistently praying for unsaved people in our lives will at least change me and draw me closer to Him. Sometimes I fell like the man in the bible who cried out, "I believe, help my unbelief!" Lord, help me to pray with conviction and belief! May God bless you all today, ladies!
Somtimes I find it difficult to say the words “not my will but yours be done”. Not because I do not want to follow God’s will, but I know the moment that I say those words I may not like the answer. LOL I end up saying them, but I have to be honest that there are times when I pray the prayer several times before saying it. Currently God sent me on assignment to work at a place. I started in September of last year and within a month of being there we were informed that the facility will be changed to a private provider which means I would be out of a job. I was ok with the news because I knew that God sent me to this place for a reason. In February they gave us out termination letters informing that as of June 30th we will not have a job. Things got very real and people started leaving which places more stress on those left. There have been some other issues and they have even tried to create issues with me. At this point I am why stay here, what is the point. I was frustrated, started focusing on leaving, and had a bad attitude. God sent me a wonderful lady who reminded me that I am here on assignment. I confessed and asked for forgiveness. I told the Lord that I am willing to stay even if it is to the end if it is His will. That was on Saturday. Tuesday I was called into the office and they transfered me to another facility. While the new facility is in the same situation, it does not have the stress or issues that the previous has. I praised God for answering my immediate prayer of less stress. As I write this I am anxiously awaiting a call about a great position that I interviewed for a couple of weeks ago. I REALLY, REALLY want this position, BUT it has to be in His will. After reading this devotion and reflecting on it…I can honestly say “not my will but Your will be done Lord. If I do not get this position You will make a way and line something up for me before the end. I am not going to worry about how the bills will get paid or how I will care for Mom. You have been providing and will continue to provide. I want to walk in Your will not my own. Amen.
These verses are all so familiar to those of us who have been doing the “church thing” for long enough, and yet today reading through Luke 22 I was struck more forcefully by Christ’s anguish than I have ever been.
There are times when I have felt desperation and anguish when in prayer, but nothing like Christ on that day. Undoubtedly nothing in my life, no matter how much I find it distressing, is on par with our Lord’s suffering that day- but what stops me today and makes me pause is the realization that Jesus could and did pour out the entirety of his anguish before his Father. I cannot say I have ever done the same.
I am not an unfeeling or reserved person- this is not my culture preventing me, it is the heart of someone who holds back always a little of herself: Asking with a kernel of unbelief; seeking with half-hearted zeal; and knocking oh-so-timidly. What could be a greater revelation of my own lack of relationship than the realization that when I meet my Father in prayer, I always hold a part of myself back?
My prayer today: to stop holding back. He knows what I hold in reserve and so the act of reserve is ludicrous. May the Spirit guide me in this, for I am too weak to do it myself. I would rather be fully myself before Him than receive any other thing.
I always am in awe by the things the Lords does. For the past week I have quietly been meditating on God’s word. I have even missed a couple of our devotions. On Friday morn I felt in my spirit God Ask me why have you stop asking me. You no longer ask. I stopped in my tracks. But He was right, for me i’d had stop asking. For my family, my students, my friends, even my enemies there have been petitions. But for me I stopped. Don’t know when it started…. I went on to hear him say “you have not because you ask not”. On sat. Morning I was reading 21 days of changing your thinking, it was about my God given right to ask. Ask, knock. On Sunday morning my Pastor’s sermon came from Matthew 7:7. Then this mornings devotion….
Okay Lord, whatever is not of faith is sin. I don’t know why I stopped asking. I don’t know why I can’t believe for me. I repent of these feelings of unworthyness. It is sin. Your Word says that I have a right to come Boldy to the throne and to expect and answer. Lord you have courted me all week, I got it! Thank you for never leaving me empty. Amen.
Ladies this is a Miracleous Monday!
I have been exactly where you felt – why can't we believe for ourselves? I had such spiritual breakthroughs and I just force myself to accept that God's love isn't for other people, but me too. I won't be held captive by those same feelings of unworthyness. I won't go to Him in prayer, prefacing my prayers with "God, I know I have sinned horribly, and I'm awful, and undeserving"…. though make no mistake, that is a hard grip to get away from – a hard grip from the enemy. But there is such freedom when you let Christ break the grip for you.
This IS a Miraculous Monday! :-)
I have been learning a lot about prayer lately. One of the things that I've been told, and I believe, is that God always answers our prayers–it's just that sometimes the answer is no and sometimes the answer is not yet. If the answer is yes, you know it. If the answer is no, you know it. Otherwise, it's "not yet." And what gives me great encouragement from many of these passages about prayer is the need for persistence when God's response is "not yet."
Here's what I mean: 1) The translation of Matt. 7:7 and Luke 11:9 reveals that the verbs are in the present continuous, meaning that "ask, seek, knock" are actually "keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking". It's something we must do over and over and over. 2) Before Jesus tells the parable of the PERSISTENT widow, he says, "One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up." 3) Even in the example of Elijah's prayers from James reminds us to not give up; Elijah prayed 7 times for rain to come before God answered.
God has laid something very specific on my heard that He wants me to pray for. I have been praying for it for 6 months now morning, noon, and night, to no avail. But these passages all remind me that prayers of petition and intercession do not always come to pass after one request. Sometimes God calls us to press in and pray hard, and that's what I see in all of the examples above.
I hope this is encouraging for anyone else who is waiting for the answer to prayer. Don't give up! If the answer is "not yet," we must be persistent and wait for God's way and His timing.
Blessings ladies!
"Ask – because He wants to meet your needs. Seek, because you’ll find Him faithful. Knock, because your persistent pursuit of relationship with Him will find you nothing but peace and sustainment." Relationship. That is the key. This really hit me today! It's not just asking and just keeping on asking and asking as if we are in a court of law and have to convince god to do what we want. Get to know Him. Relationship. "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." When we get to know him, pursue that relationship with Him, our desires, our petitions, will line up with His will! so amazing! thank you, sisters!
Thank you! RELATIONSHIP I Definitely needed that thought highlighted!
Love the parent analogy. Of course I would never give anything awful to my children when they ask me for something good. Thing is I expect them to trust me in my decision of what's best for them even if they don't like my answer, but how often do I not trust Gods answer or whine (even just to myself) about what I didn't get or or the way He answered? This was a stark reminder to me today and every time I hear myself asking my child to trust my choices for them I'm sure to be reminded of Him asking me to just trust Him a little more.
Love the prayer list idea, AmyKelly. Thanks for sharing that!