Ernest Smith

Have you ever wanted something so badly that it was all you could think about, dream about or talk about?  It was the one thing that consumed your mind and heart for days, weeks, months or years.  It was the one thing that you wanted so badly to happen that you pleaded with God, even trying to strike a deal that if He would just do this one thing, you would do whatever He commanded.   You prayed.  You hoped.  You had faith that He would answer your prayers.  I believe that most people have been in this situation before, I know I have.

I don’t think that praying desperately for something is wrong or ungodly.  In fact, I am going to do a future post about prayer and what God has been teaching me this year and much of that will center around the idea of pressing in on God.

However, there does need to be some caution given as it relates to us being consumed with one thing and asking God to answer “just this one thing.”  That caution is this…God is more concerned about His will than yours, and if you are more concerned about yours, then it will be difficult to hear from Him. 

This is a hard truth for many people to swallow.  Doesn’t God love me?  Yes.  Doesn’t God want the best for me?  Yes.  Then why wouldn’t Godanswer my prayers the way that I want Him too?  The simple answer is that His will is greater than ours and sometimes what we think is best or loving is not.

You see, God has this whole thing figured out.  He has been God for a long time and hasn’t needed any help along the way.  If God wants to do something, it only takes the whisper of His voice and it is done.  He doesn’t need us and yet the beautiful thing about God is that He wants us.  He wants us to be engaged with Him.  He wants us to know Him and pursue Him.  He wants us to press in on Him with our prayers.  However, He is still more concerned about His will than our own and when we are more concerned with our will being done; it becomes more difficult to hear the voice of God in our situation because all we hear is our voice.

But what about John 15:16 where Jesus says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you”? Isn’t that a promise that if we just pray something and use the ending “In Jesus’ name” then we will get whatever we ask for?  Well, if you are reading this passage from no knowledge or understanding of the culture in which Jesus is speaking in and to, then yes….just pray whatever you want, say the magic words and God will grant you three wishes.  However, if you take a closer look at what Jesus is saying, then you will begin to understand the depth of this passage.

(Let me state it simply because of space)  When Jesus tells His disciples that all they have to do is pray in His name and the Father will give them whatever they ask, He is not saying you can get whatever you want with a magic formula but rather praying in Jesus’ name is to pray in the will and heart of Jesus.  To do anything in someone’s name, in that culture, was to understand who that person is and exactly what they desired and to do that thing.  It would be like if you made mac and cheese and brought it to my house for supper tonight.  This is exactly what I want, so you would be doing it in my name.  J

To pray in the name of Jesus is to know Jesus so intimately that you know what HE desires; therefore, you pray what HE desires.  When you are praying in Jesus’ name, you are more consumed by His will than your own, making it easier to hear the voice of God.  Many times people can’t hear God’s voice because they are so consumed with their own.  They want what they want and can’t hear God saying anything differently.

Press on.  Keep praying faithfully, consistently and boldly.  However, in the end, pray for God’s will to be done.  God loves you.  He loves healing people, restoring marriages, freeing people from sin, creating the miracle of pregnancy.  He probably loves to do what you are praying for.  You can trust Him.  So pray as Jesus said.  Pray in His name and wait expectantly for the Father to accomplish His will.