Living Beneath Our Privilege

Yesterday I posted about seeking first the Kingdom of God, and about how often God tries to do for us, and we just get in the way. It occurs to me that we live so far beneath or privilege. God wants us to have so much more than what we end up with. The Bible says that we have not because we ask not, and when we do ask, we ask amiss (James 4:3). Sometimes that’s as simple as not going to God in faith believing that He will give us the desires of our hearts. Sometimes he gave us those desires, to start with. How’s that for a conundrum: God lays something on my heart, but I don’t believe that it’s of God, so, even though it something I want to do, I don’t think it’s something that God wants me to do, so I try to push that out of my mind, and do what God wants me to do, only I’m really avoiding what God wants me to do. Wow. That even sounds confusing to me.
The point is, sometimes we don’t ask God, because we’re sure He’ll say no, before we even ask. Sometimes when we do ask, we feel so guilty, because we know what we’ve done, and we feel that we don’t deserve what we are asking for, even though we know that God has forgiven us, we don’t feel forgiven. Because we don’t feel forgiven, we go to God as if He hadn’t forgiven us. It’s kind of like asking dad for the car keys, when just this afternoon we got into trouble. Even if dad has forgiven us, we still kind of feel bad about asking. If we don’t ask, though, we can’t receive (of course, we may ask, and still not receive, but if we don’t ask, we definitely won’t receive), and if we ask, not expecting to receive, then we mess up our own chances.
One of the times that David got in trouble with God, God sent Nathan to remind David how much God had already given him, and then to say, “If that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.” That always struck me as some kind of awesome. That particular instance, it seemed to me that David was being just a little bit greedy (well, maybe a lot greedy), but you notice God didn’t get angry with David for wanting more, only for not asking God for more, and just going out and taking what he wanted.
In the parable of the prodigal son, the Father tells the other son that he could have had, if he had only asked, “All that I have is thine.” The other son is the one who has been faithful all this time, but then when his brother returns, he gets miffed, as though his Father treats his miscreant brother better. The Father has to remind him that, all along, he has gotten exactly what he has asked for; no more, and no less.
Keep in mind, also, though, that Jesus set the example for us in the garden, when he said, “…not my will, but thine, be done.” He knew what was going to happen, and He understood why. He prayed that prayer to set the example for us. Sometimes we will ask for things, and the answer is just, “no,” because what we are asking for is not God’s will. Remember that Paul prayed three times to have a thorn removed from his flesh, but God told him that Paul needed that thorn. Sometimes, though, the answer will be, “Yes, I’m so glad you asked! I’ve been waiting for you to ask that!”
So how do you pray, in faith believing, if you aren’t sure that what you want is what God wants for you? Start out by asking God to help you to understand His will for your life, and ask Him for direction, even in your prayer life. Then work your way from there, remembering that God wants the best for you, even if sometimes you don’t know what that is.