DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3 | DAY 4 | DAY 5 | DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8 | DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12 |
pray in faith: What Do You Want?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]21 And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” – Matthew 21:21-22[/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. – John 15:7[/perfectpullquote]Wow! That’s amazing! As long as I have faith, I can move mountains just by talking to them. If I ask to fix my flat tire and I have faith, it’ll happen. If I ever get cancer, I can just pray and I will be healed. Who needs doctors, construction workers, or grocery stores? All we have to do is have faith, and we can have it all. Ok, now take a breath. While that is how some people may interpret these verses in Matthew, they’re not reading all of Scripture. They are just picking and choosing instead of applying the totality of God’s Word.
Did Jesus really mean that whatever we ask, whether good or bad, will be done for us? No.
The key here is that our will has to match up with His will. When it does, that is when miracles happen. How often do we pray selfishly? We’ll pray for our health or our job so that life will be easier for us. But how often do we pray for the Lord’s will to be done? If we are diagnosed with a terminal illness or have been given some horrible news, how should we pray?
We should pray “God, how can we use this to glorify You and further Your Kingdom?” Some people view praying to God like children sitting on Santa’s lap – ask Him for everything we want and only think about ourselves during those times. I am reminded of a movie I have seen several times called “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” It’s a classic and I have watched it with my children. One of the children in this movie, Veruca, has a dad who gives her everything she wants, and she throws a temper tantrum until he gives in. When it gets to the part in the movie where Veruca and her father fall into a garbage chute, I tell my children that is exactly why I don’t give them everything they want. It’s not good for them and it’s not good for us. The problem is that all of us can be like Veruca and only pray to God when we want something and completely ignore Him when we don’t. Then we wonder why He doesn’t give us what we want. Do you want to know the secret to getting what you want? It’s easy!
All you have to do is to want what God wants! But how do you know what God wants? We can only know what God wants by spending quality time with Him. When we spend time with someone, it’s easy to figure out what their likes and dislikes are. We even tend to pick up some of their habits whether good or bad. When we spend quality time with God, we become more like Him, enjoying what He enjoys and wanting what He wants. Can we really ask God to move a mountain and He’ll do it? Absolutely! James 5:17-18 says “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and Heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.” Was Elijah praying selfishly? No.
He was praying for no rain because he wanted the people to turn back to God. May we be like Elijah and pray passionately that God would be glorified above all else.
– Pastor David Guenin
Download the pdf for each devotion
DAY 1 | DAY 2 | DAY 3| DAY 4| DAY 5| DAY 6 | DAY 7 | DAY 8| DAY 9 | DAY 10 | DAY 11 | DAY 12