READ: PSALM
78:24-31
What you
ask and the motives for asking it are important to God, because they are
capable of affecting whether you get the desired answer or not. James 4:3 says:
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it
on your pleasure.”
The reason some ask, but cannot receive is because they have asked for the wrong thing or have asked for the right thing with the wrong motive. God promises to give us our heart's desires, but not to satisfy or gratify the lust of our flesh. If you ask God for a good wife, he will give her to you. But if you ask for the type of woman who will be prepared to stay with you in bed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, God will not approve of that.
The reason is that he knows sex is only a fraction of what marriage entails. If he grants such a request, the couple will not only be useless to him, they will be useless to their fellow man, and have no time to attend to their spiritual well-being. In the process, Satan will easily prey on them. If you force God to give you your lust, it will come with negative consequences. The children of Israel despised God's restricted provision in the wilderness and lusted after flesh. They remembered Egypt and kept and kept pestering God until he gave them their lustful desires.
“But while the meet was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.” (Numbers 11:33).
This shows that some lustful requests are nothing but an invitation to God's divine judgement. Be careful of what you ask, and of your motive ,so that you don't bring God's judgement upon yourself. On the other hand, by continuously yielding to God, obeying him and growing in the Word, you will become like him, to the point that you will have the same desires as he does. Then he can conveniently give you both your needs and wants.
The reason some ask, but cannot receive is because they have asked for the wrong thing or have asked for the right thing with the wrong motive. God promises to give us our heart's desires, but not to satisfy or gratify the lust of our flesh. If you ask God for a good wife, he will give her to you. But if you ask for the type of woman who will be prepared to stay with you in bed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, God will not approve of that.
The reason is that he knows sex is only a fraction of what marriage entails. If he grants such a request, the couple will not only be useless to him, they will be useless to their fellow man, and have no time to attend to their spiritual well-being. In the process, Satan will easily prey on them. If you force God to give you your lust, it will come with negative consequences. The children of Israel despised God's restricted provision in the wilderness and lusted after flesh. They remembered Egypt and kept and kept pestering God until he gave them their lustful desires.
“But while the meet was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was aroused against the people, and the LORD struck the people with a very great plague.” (Numbers 11:33).
This shows that some lustful requests are nothing but an invitation to God's divine judgement. Be careful of what you ask, and of your motive ,so that you don't bring God's judgement upon yourself. On the other hand, by continuously yielding to God, obeying him and growing in the Word, you will become like him, to the point that you will have the same desires as he does. Then he can conveniently give you both your needs and wants.
MEMORIZE:
JOHN 15:7 -If you abide in ME, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you
desire, and it shall be done for you.
