Praying Unlike Jesus

When it comes time to pray, sometimes the same people repeat the same prayers and everybody just assumes, "That issue/concern is taken care of!" But what if that prayer doesn't line up with God's will? The Apostle John tells us in the preceding verse "We can expect God to listen to our prayers whenever we ask, just as long as what we're petitioning for lines up with His will." There's a big difference between asking in line with God's will, and seeing God as some kind of genie that comes out of a bottle to grant our every wish. Many prayers reflect our will more than God's. Take for example the following:

The Trivial Prayer - We pray for good weather for our weekend outing, when God's got a bigger agenda. Maybe it hasn't rained and the farmer down the road needs water! Look for God's purposes in the reversals of your life and you'll turn them into stepping-stones to wisdom and maturity.

The Self-Centered Prayer - James 4:3 says "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." One woman at a recent prayer group said, "My boyfriend's army unit just got called to the Middle East. Please pray he won't have to go." Now we can certainly understand her concern, but her request is a little misguided. He's a soldier; why should others go and not him? Our lives often include risk and hardship, so God promises protection, not immunity and comfort.


The Controlling Prayer - Jesus said, "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." (Luke 11:10) Why ask God to make people conform to your wishes when He doesn't even force them to conform to His?

Jesus taught us to pray "Your will be done." If it appears that God is not answering your prayers, you should ask yourself if you're praying "according to His will."
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Amen... and this has always been my prayer:

"Father, let Your will for my life be made manifest"

this reading really blesses me what you say is so true god bless you.

agatha wrote:

this reading really blesses me what you say is so true god bless you.

God bless you too