Jeremiah 33:3
3 Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Let’s apply this promise to our lives. The Bible declares the following.
John 15:7 - If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
What an amazing promise! But before you go asking for a million dollars or a mansion on a hilltop, we must consider a few things. Within that verse lies certain qualifications!
I must ask you a question!
Are you a child of God? .....If you are still lost and unconverted...The Scriptures have a word for you (See Proverbs 28:9; John 9:30-31; Isaiah 1:12-17).
So Perhaps you qualify as one of his children and you ask, “ I am a Christian…so may I ask for anything in prayer and receive it?”
Lest I state a falsehood and mislead you…I must ask you another question….
Is your heart in a state of communion with Christ? Are you in his Word? Are you seeking his heart....his mind....and his will?
James 4:3 - Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss,
that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
The Lord gives us an illustration of this in His Word. The children of Israel...Carnal...worldly...Selfish...Begging for meat! God gave it to them, but watch it!
Numbers 11:33 - And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.
There are times when we should be grateful that the Lord does not answer our prayers.
There is a story told many years ago that fits perfectly here. It is called,
WHETHER GOD WILLS IT OR NOT
You may have heard the story of a woman who had a child who was very ill; and when her pastor called to see her, she asked him to pray for the child’s life, and in the prayer he very properly said, “O Lord, spare this child’s life, if it be thy will.” The mother interrupted him, and said, “No, I cannot have it so; this child must live. I want you to pray to God that the child may live whether God wills it or not.” The minister said, “Woman, you will have cause to tremble on account of this petition. If you ask such a thing as this of God, there will be a curse upon it.” Nevertheless, the prayer was prayed; and, twenty years afterward, that woman, with an aching heart, saw her son riding in a cart to Tyburn, where he was going to be hanged. Better would it have been for him and also for her that he had perished at the breast, and been carried to an untimely grave, than that he should send her grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.
Powerful story! Yes? Are you willing to say, “Not my will, but thine be done?”
Join us again soon as we consider more amazing truths concerning prayer!