Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
The prayer of petition is the one that we probably find ourselves praying the most. It's ok to ask God for things and as these verses say, God actually expects us to ask for things. The thing we need to remember, however, is that God will do what is right and good. If what we ask for is not the right thing, then it won't be done. God answers our prayers, but He may not answer them the way that we expect or want Him to. When Jesus was praying the garden of Gethsemane just before Judas betrayed Him with a kiss, He asked God to take away His cup. He wanted to be relieved from having to go to the cross. He understood that the cross was going to be a painful and horrible experience, and He wanted out. But Jesus wasn't under the impression that our wants and our needs are the same things. He didn't just pray to be relieved from the suffering He was about to experience, He also prayed that God's will would be done rather than what He wanted. He knew that God's will is always better than what we want. If there had been any other less painful and horrible way for Him to reclaim our souls from Satan, He would have taken it, but He was willing to suffer that painful death if God willed it.
We should always remember that we need to ask for the will of God to be done in our lives and the lives of the people we pray for. We aren't always going to understand or even like what God's will is, but it is way better than ours. Maybe God will call you to do something that will put you out of your comfort zone. Maybe He will give you exactly what you asked for in exactly the way you wanted it. Whatever God gives you, that is what is best for you. The best thing about it is that He is with you through it all. If you ever feel that you can't handle what He's given you, ask for His Holy Spirit. God will not withhold good gifts from His children.
-Meg
"7“Keep
on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and
you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8
-this verse is always a reminder to me that God will give us what we need if we ask for it.
-I think that there is limits to what he gives us because sometimes we think we need something when really we just want it.
"40There he told them, “Pray that you will not give in to temptation.”"-Luke 22:40
-this verse reminds me that we have to not only pray for forgiveness but also pray that we will not give into the temptation to sin.
"13Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. 14Are
any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come
and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. 15Such
a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make
you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.
16Confess
your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be
healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and
produces wonderful results. 17Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! 18Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops." James 5:13-18
- Prayer is powerful. I have a little example from my life where prayer showed to be powerful. In February of this year I was accepted by Power to Change to go to the United Kingdom on a missions project over the reading break. Leading up to the trip each student going had to raise support to go. I contacted every Christian I knew and asked them to support me financially or prayerfully. The Monday before my departure day, which was on a Friday, I was still $700 short of my fundraising goal, I was nervous because the responses to my calls, letters, and emails were becoming very little. A few girls on my campus were planning a wedding shower for some girls and when we were there we prayed about my support raising. By the time I arrived home that night I was only $70 short of the goal. I was on facebook, I was pretty excited because I knew that I could put $70 from my own pocket to cover the amount. But something amazing happened like a few minutes after I signed in. I received a message from a girl on my campus who had graduated a year or two ago. She said "how much do you need to reach your goal Tiffany?" and so I told her $70, she immediately told me that she would donate $70. I jumped for joy and thanked God, I had prayed with those girls and we within hours God answered our prayers, it was then clear that He wanted me to go to the UK. Prayer is powerful. Don't ever doubt it.
-Tiff
No comments:
Post a Comment