You ask and receive not because you ask for the wrong things

I am back! I hope you are well. It's been a while since the last post and as always things come up as I was busy on the road a lot and also taking my last exam and hopefully I pass it.

Have any of you ever prayed for or about something but did not get a response or did not seem to get a response from God? I've done that and I am sure you have too. You pray, and pray, and pray again, and yet nothing happens or something else happens other than what you actually ask for. Or maybe He does answer the prayer but not when you "need Him to". He answers in His own time or according to His timetable so it seems. Do you ever wonder why this is? I used to but I have come to realize something.

[3] Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. James 4:3.

We ask but why do we not receive what we ask for? According to the verse above ask but do not receive what we ask for because we want to because we are asking based on our desires. Our desires stem from our will and this will might not necessarily be according to God's will.  He has given us the promise that whatever we ask for He will give us, if we ask for the right things as is written;

[7] Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
[8] For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
[9] Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
[10] Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
[11] 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.

If we ask for the "right" things, He has promised to give us what we ask for. It is when we ask for the wrong things that He seems to not take heed to our prayers or might delay because it is not time yet for Him to grant those things which we might be asking for that might also be good things that He would have us to ask for. So you ask for a good thing but He delays because it is not time yet or He does not answer your prayer altogether because it is prayed according to your will not His. 

Praying according to His will means that we ask for things according to His will not ours. A lot of times I do this and I'm sure a lot of you do this too, to ask for something you want knowing that God does not approve or trying to bend Him to approve a plan that you know he is not going to approve. I have done this many times and it is frustrating because it seems that God is indifferent and yet by not answering our prayers, He is doing it for our own good.

If we being evil know how to give good gifts to our children, what more our Father in Heaven who is perfect, what kind of gifts is He capable of giving us. If you have a child and they ask for bread, will you give them something else like a stone instead? If they ask for a good thing like bread, you will no doubt give what they ask for. 

Those of you who have infants know that if left unattended, they will put anything in their mouths because it all looks like food to them I guess, they don't know. If you see them putting a harmful object in their mouths, you will quickly take it away from them and even take precautions to make sure that there is nothing within reach which might harm them in case you might not be able to attend them. So as parents you will not give them harmful objects and if possible eliminate as many opportunities for them to hurt themselves as possible.

This is exactly what our Father in heaven does. Most of us are infants spiritually and unable to discern when we are asking for the wrong things or even that what we ask for might be harmful to us. Infants will put anything in their mouths not because it is food but maybe because it is attractive and colorful or just because it is strange and new to them. And if you take away the object of their desire, they will throw a tantrum hoping that you will give it to them. Just as infants are unable to realize that what they want to eat is a stone and not bread, we for the most part don't realize that what we want might not necessarily be good for us. We, like infants then throw a tantrum and complain to God that He is not answering our prayers by granting what we asked for. But just as a parent would, He does not give you what you want which though it seems good might actually be harmful, and will even take measures to eliminate all possible options of getting this object of your desires. Infants get so mad and if they had the strength would probably tear the parents apart for not granting their request. We do the same with God. If we had the power, I can only imagine the great lengths to which the power would be exercised to get the objects of our desires.

So, us being sinful know how to give good gifts to our children, what more our Heavenly Father? Us, sinful as we are know not to harm our children by giving them harmful objects they might be oblivious to. What more our Heavenly Father? Definitely He will not grant us those things which might harm us that we are oblivious to! Sinful and human as we are, we are incapable of always granting the things our children might need when it is good for us to do so. Our father in Heaven however is more than capable of supplying those things which are good if we ask for them as is written;

[19] But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19.

So asking for the wrong things means that our requests will not be granted. What seems right to us is not always what's right in His eyes. We can only hope that we ask for the right things but even when we pray and ask for the wrong things:

[26] ...the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

[27] And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26, 27.

So even when we pray about the wrong things unaware, the Spirit translates the prayers and tells the Father what we actually should be praying for. It is a blessing that even when we are set in our ways and might continue to pray for the wrong things, the Spirit makes up for this interceding on our behalf about things which are according to God's will which we might not know we are needful of. Something else happens instead of what we pray for and it is because the Spirit corrected our prayers upon delivery to the Father and things then happen according to His will, not ours.

So I hope that this helps some as my realization of this has helped me. I will end here and God Bless.