The Answer to our Prayers is Right in Front of Us—R Fritz
We must ask God for what we need, a petition (request made for something desired, especially a respectful or humble request). If this is the definition of a petition, let me ask if our prayers are proper. Our prayer or petition needs to come from our heart, something we believe, personal or for somebody we care about. 1 John 5:14-15 says “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” Our prayers should be something that aligns with God and his will. We need to pray sometimes as a friend of mine has told me, to pray it out till we get our answer. What are we willing to do to get our prayer answered? We might say we do not have time but if our people are important, we will find time. It might require us to pray two or three times a day.
We need to pray for the right things for people. The question to know what to ask for comes from the Holy Spirit. We need to have that relationship where the Holy Spirit and we become one. That comes from the conversation we have with the Holy Spirit, reading the Bible and studying topics given to us. What we do not understand is our relationship with the Holy Spirit is like any relationship and requires time and doing whatever it takes including more than most people will do. I asked the Holy Spirit to send me or use me in things God wants done. The Holy Spirit and I need to be on the same page to accomplish what God needs done.
The other thing that happens is we need to understand when God gives us something different than what we asked for there is a purpose. That is where the spiritual comes in and we see as well as the Holy Spirit showing what we need to see. God answers us more than we think, we just do not see it. That should make us think hard about what we pray about and then our answer or what we believe is the non-answer people believe came from God. We need to look at our motive or have I been listening and obeying God as the Holy Spirit. If we are doing our own thing our own way, it looks to God we do not care. We need to be serious and that is not by our words but also our actions. Our actions will show God where our heart really is. Luke 6:45-46 says, and this is Jesus speaking “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” Our heart dictates our words and shows us as being good or evil by our words. The few days when leaving my house with an attitude I refuse to put my attitude on somebody else. Just because something is bothering me does not give me the right for me to bring that on somebody else. We need to respect each other, and that respect shows in our words spoken and if it does not, we need to be quiet.
How we feel can dictate our day but also dictates our relationship with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does not want to deal with a grumpy person. There is a good chance Satan has affected our mind. We must see what is going on with our thinking. God’s character is love and if we are not feeling God’s love, we need to check what is going on in our life. That also affects our prayer life if we are not focusing on Jesus. If we are not focusing on Jesus, we are focusing on ourselves or somebody else. Our answer belongs with Jesus, we might not see that because we are looking through our fleshly eyes.
Our seeing what we see with our normal eyes leaves us without the ability to see spiritually which comes through the Holy Spirit. If we do not see spiritually, we are missing out and not being able to see all God has for us. A week ago, I talked about going to battle with three people. I had talked about fighting, what I saw was a losing battle because these people were not all in on the battle. As I found out this week my prayers were answered fully for one person better than I could have imagined. It seemed this person was caught between a rock and a hard place with an uncertain expected end. I could not see God changing the situation greater in all aspects. The other two people were listening to what I had told them before with the Holy Spirit, finally giving them more understanding to be able to proceed with the added knowledge down the path to overcome their past baggage. Proverbs 4:5,7 says “Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom: and with all thy getting to understand.” Wisdom and understanding go together given by God through the Holy Spirit. We need to ask God to get wisdom and understanding and use it for God’s glory. It will come on God’s timing when he sees we will use it correctly.
When we get to a crossroads in our life is where our choices become who we will become. That choice and decision is brought about with the understanding given by God at that instant. We must utilize that opportunity within some cases people only getting that opportunity once or it might take years before God brings it back to us. I have seen this in my own life where decisions put me down a God given path.
We do not know when God will give us a new opportunity, or our life may end. We must grab and hang onto anything God gives us, with taking nothing lightly. We are always in control of our life. It is the opportunities and what we do with them that will make our lives special. The answer we are looking for to our questions is always near us in the Holy Spirit that lives in us. Happy Mother’s Day! God Bless.
