In life, it is much easier to look at what we don’t have and feel an anger and spite for the lack than it is to be thankful and content in what we do have, and to be patient in God’s fulfilment of promises. We, as a society, have grown immensely impatient. With consistent increase of devices and technology that can perform instantaneous acts and services, we are appalled when something takes more than a few seconds. If you get frustrated when your internet is not working at Verizon-promised speed, I definitely don’t expect you to be able to be content in seasons of waiting/growth that God uses for preparation and sanctification. But that can change!
Maybe you are questioning the Lord’s faithfulness in what you have been asking and praying for. Maybe you are bitter that you haven’t seen results. Maybe you haven’t been praying for any of the desires of your heart. Maybe you don’t even know what to ask for. Maybe you are discouraged because you feel like God doesn’t hear you and your requests.
Let me suggest something: Maybe what you are asking for is far less than what He has planned for you.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” -Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
So often the chronological order in how this verse is represented is reversed. We seek after our desires and wants first. The things that we yearn for become idols in our lives, and God becomes secondary to those idols. We complain when we see no results, yet do not follow the ways which lead to His blessings. Seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness should be first and foremost in our lives. When you live this way, there is no limit on what the Lord CAN and WILL do! If you are wondering why what you are praying for and desire after isn’t coming into fruition, maybe examine your priorities. Are you seeking God before all else? Is He in the front of every situation and circumstance?
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” -Matthew 7:7-8 (ESV)
This is a scripture so near and dear to my heart because it is the verse that God used to completely alter my life and draw me closer to Him. It brings attention to the intentionality and eagerness required to receive from the Lord.
- “Ask, and it will be given to you.” You cannot go to a restaurant and sit in silence when ordering your food and expect to be given the meal that you want. You must ask for what you want to be served. If you don’t ask, don’t be upset when the waiter comes back with a meal you didn’t want or with no meal at all. Asking is a key part of receiving blessing. “For everyone who asks receives.”
- “Seek, and you will find.” Let’s be honest, we’ve all played a game of hide and seek at one time or another (some of us having played the game more recently than we care to admit). Obviously, if you are the seeker, it is your job to find those that are hiding. If you wait for everyone to hide but do not leave your place of counting to go find them, you will not find them. Pretty simple, correct? You cannot be upset when you do not find what is yours to seek. In the same regard, it would be hypocritical to be upset for not finding something you did not seek after. If there is a desire on your heart that follows the will of our Father in Heaven, by all means, GO FIND IT! “The one who seeks finds.”
- “Knock, and the door will be opened to you” (NIV). You cannot go to someone’s doorstep and expect them to open the door to you if do not knock. By knocking on the door, you have a purpose and an intention for when it is opened. Have that same mindset when approaching Christ with your heart’s desires. Have a purpose and intention when you knock on the Lord’s door with your requests. HE WILL OPEN THE DOOR WHEN YOU KNOCK! “To the one who knocks it will be opened.”
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” -Psalm 37:4 (ESV)
What does it mean to “delight yourself in the Lord”? To me, it means to find any and all joy and fulfillment from He who gives it abundantly. When you are delighting yourself in the Lord, it means that you are captivated by who He is; that captivation allows for the fruits of the Spirit to be overflowing in you. This verse testifies to the fact that if you delight yourself in Him, He will give you the desires of your heart. If you are finding your contentment from the Lord and not the things of this world, He is willing and able to give you the desires of your heart. Are you delighting yourself in God?
“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)
This is a big one. So often we get upset when our prayers are not answered the way we desired or expected them to be. But let me go back to a statement I suggested earlier. “Maybe what you are asking for is far less than what He has planned for you.” When our plans for ourselves do not align with the plans that God has for us, we find ourselves taken aback with bitterness. But think about this: HIS PLAN IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN OURS. Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” His plans are to PROSPER us and NOT TO HARM US. His plans give us HOPE and a FUTURE. Our plans are often short-term, and filled with things that will never measure up to our God-given potential. But God has plans for us that are beyond the time frame that we tend to abide by. His plans are greater than anything we could ever imagine. His plans lead to fulfilment and utter greatness, whereas the plans we make for ourselves often lead to pain and utter destruction.
Another reason our plans and prayers may not be coming to fruition is because they are not the will of the Father. For example: Let’s say you are praying for your current boyfriend/girlfriend to be your future spouse. But a month later you break up. You are angry with God for not fulfilling your desires and prayers, yet He has a plan. He had another significant other planned for you that you had not even met yet. Had you stuck to your own plan, you would have married your boyfriend/girlfriend that would not have been as worthy or complimentary for you as the spouse the Lord planned for you to marry. Our desires and plans often get in the way of what God has already planned and established in our lives. If we are more focused on what we want and not on what God wants for us, we are placing endeavors on our own futures.
I hope that through reading this you gained new revelation or the Lord unveiled your eyes in a new way. I encourage you to spend some time in the presence of the Lord and examine your heart before Him. Are you seeking Him above all else? Are you delighting yourself in Him and His goodness? Do the desires of your heart match up with the Word of God? Are you praying prayers and desiring things that are limiting the plans that God established for you?
God bless!! 🙂
WALK ALONGSIDE ME 