Today I was reading this,
Matthew 21:18-22 HCSB
Early in the morning, as He was returning to the city, He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And He said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again! ” At once the fig tree withered. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly? ” Jesus answered them, “I assure you: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
We are supposed to have faith and to ask in faith, but can we simply ask for anything and expect to receive it? That does not appear to be the case in the rest of scripture.
First faith must transform us, and then our desires will be in line with what the a Lord desires. We will be then asking not based on simple human desires, but desires transformed by the Lord. Further when our request is not met exactly as we expected we will then be able to accept the answer and also to be better able to apprehend what God really had in mind.
The whole idea that we can simply believe hard enough for something that we want and it will be done simply does not square with the hardship faced by people of great faith in the rest of the Bible.
This is confirmed by James who also talks about asking in faith (James 1:5-7, 4:3-4). Here James explains that we do need to ask in faith but that if we ask with the wrong motives we should not expect to receive from the Lord. The more we pray in faith the more we are transformed to be the people God created us to be.
Jesus could have cursed all bad plants that he saw, and he could have healed everyone in the world. Why didn't he? Because he knew this was not the will of his Father in that moment. He also knew that in the end he was going to redeem the earth, so he could allow temporary suffering and temporary fallenness to affect the earth because he knew that greater glory for His father would come in the long run.
When we pray we do not know the whole plan in detail, but we do know that in the end God wins. Therefore as our faith in Him grows we learn to pray with His purposes in mind. For example when we pray for someone who is sick, we want that person not to feel the effects of pain but we do not know the whole picture. So we pray out of the knowledge we have but perhaps God is using that pain to help them trust Him more, or perhaps to also help those around to grow in their faith.
Therefore, I am learning to pray always that God will be glorified in and through the circumstance. I then pray my desire that I think will bring more joy and less pain in the moment. But if God chooses a different path I learn to trust Him that He knows best.
This does not mean that I do not believe He is capable doing what I asked for, but rather that I know ultimately He knows best. God promises not to give us a snake when we ask for fish (Luke 11:11), but this does not mean we always get the fish. At least not right away.
Our faith rests not in getting what we think we need, but in God who gives us what we need!
