Get Everything You Want from God

Perhaps we should stop praying for what we need, and start praying for what we want.

"Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Often it seems as though our prayers only reach the ceiling as we pray for God's provision in giving us the things that we "need." We claim Jesus' promise in John 15:7, "...ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." When we go to present our wish list before God, it seems as though we come away empty handed. James says we do not have, because we do not ask. But from our experiences this would seem incorrect: we ask for all sorts of things and still do not receive them. Is God's word untrue? After all, it does seem like an impossible task for God to give us everything we want.

The problem lies within us, not with God or his word. James says, that "You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions" (James 4:3). How God's word cuts straight to the heart! We tend to forget the first part of John 15:7: "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you." The problem with our prayers is that they often stem from our idolatrous nature rather than our abiding with Christ. If we were to truly delight ourselves in God, we would discover that we would desire the things that he desires, and he would indeed grant our request.

What does God desire? Jesus answers that in his example on prayer: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven"(Mat 6:9-10). If our prayers were to advance the kingdom of Christ, we could pray in full assurance that they would be answered. God will give us what we want - as long as we want Him. May His name be great on the earth, and may we delight in seeing his kingdom and dominion established!