God's Will, Not My Own
When we pray for God's Will - we must be ready to accept it - NO MATTER WHAT THE ANSWER IS.
I used to pray specifically for something and practically beg God to answer my prayers my way. I would mean every word I prayed. I would truly be praying in faith and belief. They were heartfelt prayers and deeply prayed. Then, when God would not answer them or answer them differently than what I asked for, I would be upset. I would lose just a little bit of faith in God each time. Slowly, with each prayer not answered or answered any other way than what I prayed for; my faith weakened.
One day, as I was reading His Word, I came across a verse that made me think about how I was praying.
Mark 11:24
"Therefore I ask you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours"
SO, I started praying with belief that God had already answered it. Yet, prayers were not answered the way I prayed for them to be answered. Why aren't my prayers that I am praying in belief, with sincerity and boldly - why aren't they being answered?!!
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future."
My prayers were about what I wanted. Not what my Creator wanted.
There is nothing wrong with praying boldly and asking specifically for something you desire. You can believe that it will be answered as well. When God answers in a way not like you asked, don't think He gave you the wrong answer. He just knows better for you.
We can only see the here and now. We can't see the future. We don't know what lies ahead of us. We have to keep this in mind when we are praying to God.
God knows. If we believe that God can answer our prayers, then we also must believe in His power to see the future. If we believe that God is powerful enough to save, heal, and rescue. Then we must also believe that He knows when, how and why to do that. We can't believe God has that kind of power and then limit Him in the way He uses that power.
God has always answered my prayers, yet very rarely in the way I asked. Confusion. Anger. Fear. Uncertainty. Sadness. These all usually follow. These feelings are ok. God knows our human weakness and He understands our emotions. He sent His only Son to earth to experience all these emotions and death on the cross. We can have these emotions while we are coping with what is going on. But there is a KEY FACTOR that we MUST keep in mind, even in these moments. Jeremiah 29:11
God only wants what is best and He wants to see us prosper. Not in the limited earthly way of prospering either. God's prosperity is beyond anything we could ever imagine! His prosperity is something that this earth could never hold. God wants to protect us from death. He desired for us to be in Heaven with in and live eternally in the Heavenly Realms.
Once I realized this is what God wanted for me - I was thankful when He answered my prayers differently from what I asked for. I still pray boldly and specifically. I still get upset when He doesn't give me what I pray for. But when I say "God's Will be done" - I MEAN IT!
