As my sister and I were growing up, our parents taught us about the love of Jesus and to enjoy intimate prayer with Him. As I grew older, sometimes life’s varied challenges pressed hard on me, and my prayers became requests based on need rather than tender dialogues with the One who delights in giving to His children (Matthew 7:11). In other words, my prayers were based on circumstances rather than on God’s character. Over time, I’ve learned to ask according not only to His will but also His goodness.
We embrace God’s sovereignty when we acknowledge Him as the Great “I Am” (Exodus 3:14). Our view of God, however, should also include His being the One who loves to give (Hebrews 11:6; James 1:17).
A spiritual cancer, jealousy can creep into our lives unannounced, root its way through our soul, and create havoc in its wake. Even a believer in Jesus isn’t immune to the temptation of envying someone else’s circumstances, relationships, or gifts.
James 4:2-3 teaches us the connection between our prayers, our hearts, and the answers we receive. Often we don’t have what we desire because we “don’t ask for it.” Or, if we do ask, we have the wrong motives. Both our failure to ask and our inappropriate asking stem from the same limited and marred view of God. Jealousy and self-promotion can flourish when we’re unconvinced of His goodness.
Psalm 23 beautifully exemplifies God as being both all-powerful and always good even when we “walk through the darkest valley” (Psalm 23:4). We have “all [we] need” because we’re filled with His Spirit (Psalm 23:1). Best of all, we can declare that His goodness will run after us, not just for eternity, but here and now (Psalm 23:6, 27:13).
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Samuel 9:1-13
More:
Read 1 John 3:14-24 and 5:1-15 and consider the relationship between our prayers and the purity of our motives, our love for others, and our heart for obeying God’s commandments.
Next:
What are the hurdles you face when it comes to boldly approaching God in prayer? In what ways have you allowed your perceptions of your own worthiness to color your view of God’s goodness?
Gary Shultz on April 4, 2016 at 6:41 am
Regina, prayer for me is still a strange and wonderful thing. Between His word and prayer it is the formula that sustains spiritual life. God does not need our musings, but He is big enough to want and handle them. I guess it would make sense that it is difficult and comes under question, I guess we would misuse, at times, another gift God has given. To you, is there a difference between prayer and being in God’s presence? Or is prayer just segmented into different sections? One thing I can be sure about is God part in prayer, His answers, His timing, His wisdom, and individual care are always in play for us. Thanks Regina.
sandy229 on April 4, 2016 at 10:25 am
I think the Holy Spirit draws us into God’s presence and when we pray we are having a conversation with God. I have struggled with praying in front of others, but when the Holy Spirit tells me what to say, it just comes out naturally. When we worship God by singing praise songs, we are in His presence because the Holy Spirit draws us into His presence so we can know God better and be closer to Him and He always welcomes our praises. Prayer is communicating with Him whether we pray along with others or just by ourselves. This is just what I believe God has led me to say to you.
sandy229 on April 4, 2016 at 10:36 am
I know that you probably already know that Gary. I’m sure you probably know a lot more than I do.
jim spillane on April 4, 2016 at 12:27 pm
Gary – good morning, my friend. If I may, I’d like to take a quick stab at answering your question for Regina. In my limited understanding, I do not think that there is a difference. If prayer is a conversation with God, then we must be in His presence for this to take place, as we approach Him with reverential awe and thanksgiving. Here on earth we can hold conversations with almost anyone thru the use of modern technology in its various forms, so we don’t necessarily have to be in their presence, as it relates to distance. And we most always don’t approach our call to them with the same reverence and thanks that we reserve for God. But when we converse with God, I’m not doing all the talking, sometimes I’m listening for Him to speak, and vice versa. And sometimes there’s no conversation at all, just the love that radiates and the joy that’s realized from knowing each others’ company. Sorry that my “quick stab” turned out to be so long. Blessings to you and to all who visit here.
sandy229 on April 4, 2016 at 3:39 pm
that’s basically what I was thinking and I talked to God about it and the answer He gave me is the reply I sent to Gary, but you sure know how to explain it so much better. I don’t always know how to say things the way I mean to. Thanks so much for your comment to Gary, it helped me too!
Tom Felten on April 4, 2016 at 10:14 am
Regina, thank you for these reminders of God’s sovereignty and goodness. I’m at the hospital right now awaiting a close relative coming through major surgery. It was so good to pray with him prior to this procedure, and to know we can rest in the face that he’s in his heavenly Father’s arms.
godlove on April 4, 2016 at 10:55 am
Courage Tom. May GOD comfort and give you and your family the strength to face these trying times, and may you all continue to trust in the Will of God Almighty.
jim spillane on April 4, 2016 at 12:30 pm
Amen to that and may our Heavenly Father’s love be with you and your loved ones always.
Regina Franklin on April 5, 2016 at 9:42 am
Praying for you and your family this morning, Tom. Believing you all will continue to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
godlove on April 4, 2016 at 10:44 am
Thanks for this great post Regina. I usually tend to fall into that trap as well, having circumstance-based request-filled prayers, but I am also slowly learning to humble myself to His Will for me. Our Good GOD certainly knows what we need even before we ask Him, and I think He just likes for us to have a personal relationship with Him and to take time as regularly as possible to have a “tender dialogue” with Him. It is important to put our complete faith in Him and trust in His Goodness. For me Psalm 23 paints a good picture of what complete faith in GOD looks like. “God is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think,” (Ephesians 3:20) and Jesus tells us not to worry about what we would eat or wear (Matthew 6:25-34). I know I am not worthy though, but rely only on His Grace and Mercy.
jim spillane on April 4, 2016 at 12:43 pm
godlove – remember also that He says that we don’t have because we don’t ask, even though He knows our every need. Asking, or as you put it “having circumstance-based, request-filled prayers,” is a sign of humility before Him, which I think is one of the proper ways to approach Him. And if we know of His goodness and love for us, we can be assured that we will receive what we ask for, in His time, and if it is His good will for us. Blessings to you today and always.
godlove on April 4, 2016 at 1:40 pm
jim, I think what Jesus actually says is that when we ask according to His Will, we will receive what we have asked for (Matthew 7:7-11), not really that we don’t have because we don’t ask (not trying to be pedantic but I think both don’t mean quite the same thing). Like I quoted in Ephesians 3:20, GOD is able to do infinitely more than we can ask or even think and I know He does much more for us than what we ask for. In my humble opinion, He requires us to ask Him for our needs as a sign of submission to Him and to be totally dependent on Him, not because He will give us only after we have asked. I agree though, that having faith that He hears us whenever we ask for anything according to His Will, we can be assured that we will receive what we have asked for. Thanks and blessings to you too.
Regina Franklin on April 5, 2016 at 9:55 am
Dear Jim and godlove–you have both captured important elements of how we learn to relate to the Lord. When James was speaking that we have not because we ask not, I think he was getting at the essential heart of works rather than grace. For example, take the older brother in the prodigal son story. When the son responded with jealousy, the Father essentially told him, “All that I have has been yours to enjoy.” The problem wasn’t the accessibility of the father’s provision. The older son had a wrong understanding of the Father’s heart; he was waiting for the Father to reward him for his efforts (which was why he was so angry when the Father gave generously to his younger brother). The Father didn’t want the older son to earn anything by his works; He wanted both of his sons to know His heart.
At the same time, essential to our requests is the will of the Father. What excites me about this premise, though, is that the more time we spend with God, the more intimate we become with His heart. The more intimate we become with Him, the more we know His character. The more we know His character, the more we know how to ask in accordance with His will.
godlove on April 6, 2016 at 2:11 pm
Thank you very much for that insight Regina. I understand what you mean perfectly; isn’t it wonderful that we have such a Mighty GOD who is so Great and Powerful, yet He likes for each and every one of us to have an intimate Father and child kind of relationship with him.
Gary Shultz on April 4, 2016 at 9:52 pm
I hope this sandwiches in between Sandy and Jim. Thank you both for your comment, as you can probably tell I get up and hit ODJ early and sometimes I don’t get back until the next day to see results. I valued both answers, most times it is like Jim is describing; however, some of the most spontaneous overwhelming time of God’s presence is in that phrase, the “Spirit draws us”. For instance one of those spectacular times is when Jesus spoke just one word “Mary”. One of the joys of christian life is listening to others explain what God means to them, thank you both for sharing one of the more deeper parts of your walk. And Sandy, I’m not too smart, just high mileage. Blessings
Regina Franklin on April 5, 2016 at 9:41 am
Good morning, Gary! I, like you, often read the comments on my phone, and then respond later when I am at my computer (guess I am still a little old-fashioned that way–if old-fashioned and computer fit in the same sentence). I have been thinking over your question and have loved the responses others have given. Ironically, in the meantime between reading your initial question and my sitting here this morning, I had a conversation with a young believer who is wrestling with how to trust God in the larger circumstances of life because he doesn’t always see the answers he had hoped for in the smaller circumstances. As we spoke, we both came to the realization that one of the reasons he is struggling with trust is that his time being with the Lord is limited to asking him for answers to circumstances, rather than seeking out time to be with the Lord, to talk to Him, and to wait to hear His response. Being in His presence isn’t limited to times and spaces of total quiet, although creating that kind of place can help us to become more accustomed to His voice, but it can also happen when we are surrounded by activity, driving in our car or sitting at work. To me, being in His presence is much like I feel when someone I love walks in the room. My attention and my focus center on that individual because my awareness of the individual is connected to my deep affection for him or her. Being in His presence are those moments when God has my total attention, not because I am in crisis or I am at a loss for a decision, but because I am aware of who He is, how much He loves me and how much I love Him.