Ask God
Last week, I was texting about finishing up a job that I started working on and someone else is now responsible for completing. However, I have some responsibility to make sure that this job is done correctly and completed in a timely fashion. I was very angered by this person’s seemingly uncaring response and what felt to me very disrespectful. Thank God that I have come far enough and have enough self-control to choose not to respond immediately. I was aware my reaction of yelling and cursing to my husband about this person was not God’s will for me. I also knew if I allowed Him to work in my heart and mind, He would temper my anger and help me to see my part. So, I asked Him to handle my overwhelming feelings and to soften my heart. You know what? God did just that and more. He helped me to see this person with new eyes in humility; seeing him with new understanding, compassion and mercy. Today, I read the verse John 16:24 where Jesus tells His disciples that they have asked nothing in His name and that if they ask they will receive, that their joy be full. It got me thinking about this circumstance that when I asked, God gave me exactly what I needed to do His will. How often have I not received God’s help in life’s daily challenges because I have not asked.
As I considered this verse, I pondered what exactly Jesus meant by ask and you will receive. Surely, He didn’t mean, as some prosperity gospel preachers have said, that I could ask for anything I want and it will be given to me. As I looked at the verse, the promise is that God will provide what we ask. I believe that the premise is what comes before, asking in Jesus’ name. It is more fully explained in 1 John 5:14-15 which tells me that I have what I ask according to His will. I know that I cannot, in good conscience, ask God for something which I selfishly desire and expect Him to give it to me. Yet, how often have I asked God for my will to be done and then shaken my fist in anger when I did not get the result I wanted. James 4 reminds me to check my motives and see if they are aligned with God’s will. Are my prayers to make me more like Him or change another person? Will my prayers bring out the fruit of His spirit within me or will they satisfy my desire to be angry or right? When my heart is aligned with God’s heart, I long for Him to do for others what He has done for me and for me to do His will. God’s desire for me is this as well, so I ask for His will to be done in and through me .
As I thought about my own life, I was thinking how often my pride gets in the way of calling on God and asking for help. I can see this tangibly in 2 ways: one I am actually getting something by holding on to a problem, or two I am trying to do it on my own. In each case I see the initial step is actually willingness. Sometimes I want to stay angry because I feel justified in my self-righteousness. Other times perhaps I’m angry and I think I can deal with it on my own. I think I will make the choice to not be angry and forgive in my own way and timing. I believe I will move on and forgive and forget, leaving the whole situation and maybe even the person behind me. How many times have I justified myself, then later found that a bitter and resentful root has grown. If I honestly look at myself in those moments, I know that the real issue is not that God couldn’t help me in those circumstances, but rather that I wouldn’t allow Him because I wasn’t willing. Thank God that He can handle my unwillingness, I just need to pray asking Him to make me willing to be willing.
The real beauty of what Jesus told His disciples is that He provided one of the main reasons I can trust Him when I ask Him to come in and handle what I cannot on my own. He told them the second part of the promise, the purpose for them to ask and receive in His name…so their joy would be full. When I come to God and ask Him to handle my emotions, I can trust that He has something better for me. As I let go and let God, I choose to surrender myself and my will and invite Him in. His Spirit can come in and fill me only through me first welcoming Him in. When I am willing to let go of what my human heart so desperately wants to hold on to, God can bless me with something so much better, the fruits of His Spirit. I also noticed that Jesus said so your joy may be full. The promise isn’t just that what I ask for in God’s will and Jesus’ name, but also that a blessing will be poured out on me that is complete. He doesn’t just take the emotions and feelings I cannot handle, but replaces them with the fruits of His Spirit which will fulfill me.
Practice for Today
Today I will remember there is my part and there is God’s part. I can choose to ask God to do for me what I cannot do for myself, trusting that what He offers is better than what my flesh desires or wants to cling to. If I am unwilling, I will ask Him to make me willing. I will continue to be aware of my emotions and feelings and ask God to handle them for me. As I look at the list of the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23, I acknowledge that they are not feelings and can even be contrary to what I feel in a particular situation. Rather, they are gifts from God that can replace my feelings, as I choose to surrender and ask Him to take them. Today I will make the conscious choice to trust that His love is better than my anger, His joy better than sorrow, His peace better than panic. I look forward to the filling of His patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control; knowing my life can be full, all I have to do is ask.
James 4:2-3 NIV You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
1 John 5:14-15 NIV This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.