1 John 5:14-15 ~ This is the confidence which we have before 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 which we have asked from Him.
I was praying very intensely the other night. I felt like if I prayed harder, longer, and with more emotion, God would grant my request more readily. As I was closing my fist and getting louder, I heard that still small voice say, “Christy, you know I want this more than you do.” I stopped mid petition and thought, ‘Huh? I never thought of it that way.” Sometimes I believe I must do something for God to answer my prayers. If I pray longer, if I pray harder, if I act better, if I serve more, then maybe God will hear me and answer my request.
Scripture tells us that the fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much. There are moments when I think my prayers won’t availeth anything because I’m not being very righteous right now. However, our righteousness comes from Christ. That’s the great news about the gospel. We are credited with Christ’s righteousness. If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are clothed in a righteousness that is not our own. That is the righteousness that will avail greatly in our prayer life. It is Christ’s sacrifice that allows us to come boldly before our God in Heaven and make our requests.
The truth that God revealed to me the other day was I was praying for something that He desired more than I could fathom. That, to me, means He wants to answer that prayer. Some things we can know God wants to answer: He wants to protect those we care about from the enemy’s attacks. He wants our loved ones to come to a salvation in Jesus Christ. He wants to grow your faith and trust in Him. However, there are some things that we may not be sure are part of His will, such as, should you take that new job, should you serve a certain way in the church, should you buy that new car, etc. If we want our prayers to availeth much, we should want our desires to line up with God’s desires.
I heard a speaker give an analogy on this subject about lining our desires up with God’s desires. She said she and her husband took their ministry team on a lake trip once a year. They would rent a place at the lake and have a few days of fellowship with their team. After one of these trips, she started praying that God would provide a way for them to buy a lake house. She shared her desire with her husband and said they would be able to spend more time in that peaceful place. They could take their family and other friends on trips. He quickly said to her, “What about the ministry that we do every weekend? Are you going to sacrifice the ministry God has called you to for more time at the lake?” She said she had not even thought about the very demanding ministry schedule she had and how that would take away from her commitment to that ministry. There are times we may be praying for something that God knows will not line up with His purpose and plan for our lives. There were times in my life I was praying for a particular relationship to work out, when God knew He had the perfect man for me in the future. I was praying for something that was not His plan for me.
I believe we will save ourselves some time and frustration if we take a moment before we begin to pray to ask God if it is His desire. If our prayers line up with God’s desire, the Bible tells us He will answer as long as we don’t give up. The most amazing thing to me is that we have the ear of the God who created all we see and can’t see. He is eager to hear from us and eager to answer our prayers that He desires more than we do!
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