Are we aligned with God’s heart? What have we asked for Him? Do our requests match His will for us?
This week I made some requests for God and I had an incredible response, which made me rethink my whole relationship with God and the way I have approached Him!
You can’t miss this!
I don’t know myself
I was in my moment of prayer, telling God my wishes and what I would like! I talked about my ministerial life, my professional life, my relationships and various things and said that I would like certain things to happen.
The next day, the Lord embarrassed me in an absurd way, saying, “Why do you keep asking for different things if you don’t even know what you really need?” It shocked me. I know that the thing I need most is to have the Lord by my side, but instead of asking Him “what do I need?” and asking Him to guide my heart to what really builds me up, I just asked for what I wanted!
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.”
Job 38: 4
This question that the Lord asked me, reminded me of when Job contests God’s plan! Put your name in this verse: “Where were you, John / Emma / James, when I laid the foundation for the land?” Where were we when God created the heavens and the earth and imposed a limit on nature? Who are we to contest God’s plans?
The Lord knows you
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”
Psalm 23: 1
The Lord began to minister in my heart that I need to trust Him more and ask Him to guide my ways and not for Him to fulfill my desires. The desires are infinite, and every time we make our wish come true, other desires soon arise.
A friend of mine told me something incredible about this: “When we live for the glory of God, we do not have our desires fulfilled, but we are satisfied in Him, for He gives us what we need, not what we want.”
The Lord knows our hearts, He knows our lives, He knows how many hairs we have! He is the only one who knows what we really need, so we must trust His plans!
When we understand that God is all we have, we are satiated and happy with what the Lord has given us! We need to entrust our life and our ways to Him and rest on Him!
When we know Him, we know what to ask
When we know God deeply and truly give our will to Him, we come to better understand His plans and our hearts begin to desire what really matters for each moment we are living.
“Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.”
Psalms 37: 3-6
The above passage shows us that when if we trust the Lord, do good and take pleasure in Him, He fulfills our heart’s desires. It is impossible to walk with the Lord and not be changed. Our desires are transformed as well. We begin to find satisfaction in what pleases God. And then what we ask our Father also changes.
A request that pleases God
“That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
“Solomon answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made me king in his place. Now, Lord God, let your promise to my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
God said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king,”“
2 Chronicles 1: 7-11
King Solomon asked for something that pleased God. When the Lord said that he could ask for whatever he wanted, Solomon chose to ask for wisdom and knowledge to lead the people. God saw that He did not ask for personal wealth or honor. So Solomon not only had his request granted, he received many other blessings from God. Solomon knew how to ask for something so precious for the moment he was living, because he had taken over the kingdom of his father David.
May we know our Father in a profound way, for He is our creator and will reveal to us who we really are in Him. Thus, we will know how to make precious requests like Solomon’s that will help us fulfill the purposes for which we were created. Solomon asked for something totally related to the new identity of king that he had assumed. We can also learn from our Creator to ask for what has to do with the identity He has given us.
Grace and Peace.
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