YOU DON'T HAVE A CLUE
March 2013
by Lisa Maki
How many times have you prayed and got disappointed because your prayers were not answered? How many times have you exercised faith over something and it never came to pass? How many times have you presented your requests before the Lord only for them to fall on deaf ears? You’re not alone my friend. All of us have been through that and continue to experience the same thing.
It’s not that God ignores our prayers or that we don’t exercise enough faith. Most often than not, we pray for things we don’t have a clue about. We ask for things which we think are the best for us but in God’s eyes they will do us more harm than good. Honestly, we don’t have a clue as to what God wants for us. We think we do but we don’t.
I remember years ago when a brother in the Lord texted me and asked me to pray for him to get a specific job (I don’t remember what job). Just as I was about to pray for him, I heard a voice inside me saying: “Pray for my perfect will”. I texted him back and said, “I will pray for God’s perfect will for you”. He didn’t text me back. Obviously, he wasn’t happy about that response.
We may be praying for something that God said He will do. We may even have several Scriptures to back up our prayer. Yet, unless it is God’s perfect time and perfect will, it will not happen. Actually, He may turn you over to what you want, if you are really persistent about it. But only to show you in the end that it was not His will for you, just like what happened to the Israelites when God gave them quail. Look at the Scripture below.
“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” (Numbers 11:18-20)
It’s not that God ignores our prayers or that we don’t exercise enough faith. Most often than not, we pray for things we don’t have a clue about. We ask for things which we think are the best for us but in God’s eyes they will do us more harm than good. Honestly, we don’t have a clue as to what God wants for us. We think we do but we don’t.
I remember years ago when a brother in the Lord texted me and asked me to pray for him to get a specific job (I don’t remember what job). Just as I was about to pray for him, I heard a voice inside me saying: “Pray for my perfect will”. I texted him back and said, “I will pray for God’s perfect will for you”. He didn’t text me back. Obviously, he wasn’t happy about that response.
We may be praying for something that God said He will do. We may even have several Scriptures to back up our prayer. Yet, unless it is God’s perfect time and perfect will, it will not happen. Actually, He may turn you over to what you want, if you are really persistent about it. But only to show you in the end that it was not His will for you, just like what happened to the Israelites when God gave them quail. Look at the Scripture below.
“Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”’” (Numbers 11:18-20)
Would you rather that God give you what you are asking for, even if it is not His best for you, only to suffer in the end? Or would you prefer that God withhold from you what you want so that He can give you His best? Of course I want His best for me. I’m sure you do too ... I hope.
So how do you know if what you are asking for is His perfect will for you?
First of all, ask yourself why you are in your present situation. If you are where you are as a consequence of a sin you’ve done, then accept the consequence and surrender to what God is doing. If you’re praying to be delivered from financial debt but the reason why you got there is because of your overspending, then don’t expect to be delivered right away. It is not God’s will for you to just get out of that debt without you learning your lesson.
Second, think about the people around you ... your family members and friends. What have you been praying for about them? God may be using your situation as a set-up for a powerful testimony that will shake up the people close to you. You may be sick and you’re praying for healing but it hasn’t come because God is waiting for that most perfect set-up.
Third, think about your weaknesses and the sins that easily entangle you. What you may be praying for may expose you to temptations that you won’t be able to resist. You may be praying for a job and God sees that you will be very close to your boss and will be detrimental to your marriage.
Fourth, what you may be asking for may require a greater preparation on your part. You may be praying to be married and God knows who it is and that person has so many issues from his past that will require a lot of your strength.
These are just some ways to find out what God’s perfect will for you is, and reasons why He has not answered your prayers yet.
God sees things you don’t see and He knows things you don’t have a clue about. So keep trusting in Him and submitting to His perfect will for you. Always end your prayers with: “Not my will but yours be done, Lord”.
First of all, ask yourself why you are in your present situation. If you are where you are as a consequence of a sin you’ve done, then accept the consequence and surrender to what God is doing. If you’re praying to be delivered from financial debt but the reason why you got there is because of your overspending, then don’t expect to be delivered right away. It is not God’s will for you to just get out of that debt without you learning your lesson.
Second, think about the people around you ... your family members and friends. What have you been praying for about them? God may be using your situation as a set-up for a powerful testimony that will shake up the people close to you. You may be sick and you’re praying for healing but it hasn’t come because God is waiting for that most perfect set-up.
Third, think about your weaknesses and the sins that easily entangle you. What you may be praying for may expose you to temptations that you won’t be able to resist. You may be praying for a job and God sees that you will be very close to your boss and will be detrimental to your marriage.
Fourth, what you may be asking for may require a greater preparation on your part. You may be praying to be married and God knows who it is and that person has so many issues from his past that will require a lot of your strength.
These are just some ways to find out what God’s perfect will for you is, and reasons why He has not answered your prayers yet.
God sees things you don’t see and He knows things you don’t have a clue about. So keep trusting in Him and submitting to His perfect will for you. Always end your prayers with: “Not my will but yours be done, Lord”.
Lisa Maki is the founder, publisher, and editor of God'z Gurlz. More about Lisa at ...
http://www.godzgurlz.com/regular-contributors.html
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