The Lord’s ear is always open to hear and listen for our voice (1Peter 3:12). He wants us to share our hearts and our lives with Him. Do you take the time to talk with Him? What do you want from Him? And if you say – nothing… how can He share with you? He tells us in so many ways and in so many places in scripture to ASK!
“This is the [remarkable degree of] confidence which we [as believers are entitled to] have before Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose] He hears us. And if we know [for a fact, as indeed we do] that He hears and listens to us in whatever we ask, we [also] know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14-16, AMP)
- It is OUR confidence.
- Ask according to HIS WILL
- We ARE heard
- The Lord LISTENS to us
- We KNOW we have the requests
The determiner is #2: if we ask anything according to His will, [that is, consistent with His plan and purpose and THEN #5:we have [granted to us] the requests which we have asked from Him. Not a maybe, do have. Is the issue in this the ‘according to His will’? When we pray and ask, do we know that our requests would be according to His will? If so, end of discussion.
Could the problem be that we separate God into a different ‘category’ when it comes to our needs, requests?. If our problem or issue is spiritual then, of course we turn to the Lord. But what about all the other areas of our life??? Do we think those areas are inappropriate to ask about. They aren’t. When Jesus came to bring us into an abundant life, He didn’t say… ‘but only those areas that are spiritual’. If so, then where do we turn when our need is in the other areas of our lives? he first thing I want us to think on/realize is the scripture from Matthew 6:33 (AMP):
“But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.“
It is His kingdom that should be our secondary focus, attention after seeking the primary focus – Lord. We are told to seek the giver, not the gift. If all we do is to turn to the Lord in His status as Jehovah Jireh, they we miss all the other manifestations. When the Lord talks about abundance, He is referring to all of bits and bobs in our life. The point is us – who, what are we focusing on.
But also look at the end of the sentence… and all these things will be given to you also. It’s in the areas of ‘all these things’ that we seem to be confused: do we ask? do we ‘hope’ for? do we simply attempt to find a resolution in another way? Are we insulting God by asking for those ‘things’? Verse 32 says, “…all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Therefore, He is never surprised nor upset about the ‘extras’. I think the point is our priorities… do we put seeking God first, or seeking His hand… or seeking the ‘things’?
And yes, we probably do all the above. We just need to be intentional when we pray. He tells us in various places that He wants us to live an abundant life, so why would He want us to not even ask? The issue truly is our priorities and how we go about asking and seeking.
