I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13
Have you ever been afraid to ask for something you really needed? My birthday was last week, and I had a mental list of things it might be nice to have, but I also had a list of things that I needed. I told some friends that my birthday would be awesome if the following happened
1. The dentist found no problems at my dental cleaning.
2. The check engine light in my car would correct itself.
3. The paycheck I was waiting on would be deposited before the weekend.
4. The water heater to not be broken.
Now, I also hoped to reach 150 subscribers, to stay below a certain number on the scale, and maybe meet a certain someone, but they were just a “it would be nice” idea. It occurred to me that while I had told my friends, I hadn’t actually taken my list to God, so I did.
Good Gifts
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you…If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Matthew 7:7, 11
God is the original giver of the best gifts. He gave his only Son for us so that we could have a relationship with Him. How much better can you get? Yet, he also cares for our daily needs. Beyond that, He also sometimes likes to give us little surprises, moments of joy. He’s not stingy. Last week when I was having a challenging day, he sent a mama deer with twin fawns my way…actually in the way because they were crossing the road. However, the mama deer waited for traffic to stop and then led by example and waited for the little ones to follow. City deer are pretty smart.
Ask Amiss
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
James 4:2-3
While God is generous, He will not give us things that are out of His will. He is the giver of good gifts, but he will always choose the best for us over something we think is good. The world teaches the false doctrine of “name it and claim it.” In other words, we can ask for anything and God will give it to us. God loves us too much to give us everything we ask for because He knows the end results of some choices. Sometimes the answer is no, and sometimes the answer is not yet. If God doesn’t answer the way we want, then we need to trust that He knows what’s best.
Petition Properly
And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
1 John 5:14-15
The key to a healthy prayer life is asking for God’s will. Anything we ask that is in His will, He will answer with a yes and amen. When I put my prayer list before God, I reminded Him that money was short, and I still had a few things to pay for that were not on the monthly budget, necessary things. I wasn’t sure how I would pay all the bills as it was, so added costs would require divine intervention, which is exactly what happened.
The dentist didn’t find anything new, and I paid my remaining balance from an insurance issue. The paycheck was deposited the next day in plenty of time for the weekend. My water heater issue was actually a user error (a story for another time). My car’s check engine light is a story of divine intervention.
Divine Intervention
I had someone trying to figure out the problem and clearing the error message, but it came back twice, so they quit trying to clear it. We hadn’t had time to try to find the problem, but I prayed that it would be nothing. Yet, I needed the stupid light to go off so that I would know when there was a real problem. I got in the car to go home from work Saturday and the light was gone and has not come back on. It is running fine.
As for the other requests, I now have 142 subscribers (an increase of 12) and my weight is staying below that number on the scale, so I have broken the plateau of weight loss. Bonus gifts! As for meeting a certain someone, I have a feeling that is a “not now” answer, but I believe to see the goodness of God yet.
How has God answered your prayers lately? I’d love to know.
Enjoyed your message, Linda. I need some divine intervention for the check engine light on my truck. Hope you meet that special someone and congratulations on increasing your subscribers. Peace and blessings.