Rejoice:

Read:

One of the biggest lies the enemy has tricked us into believing is that when we ask the Lord for something and He doesn’t do it then He won’t give us anything. It reminds me of  when I tell one of my kids they cannot have candy or something like that and then they break down screaming “I’ll never eat again!” Sometimes we go to the extremes… Sometimes we over react. Not me, but you. I don’t ever over react and do things irrationally like a child… *nervous laugh*

inner monologue: don’t tell them about the time you said you would fast until you died if God didn’t answer you
With verses like John 14:13 it makes sense though. In John 14 we read the verse I mentioned yesterday: And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
God said that!! So what the hay!! I ask for things, and I don’t get it. That’s on Him bro, He shouldn’t have said that.

Unrelated, have you ever said something to your kids like, “ok guys do whatever you want” and then one of your kids goes WHATEVER WE WANT!?!?!? Then you have to explain to that one kid that this doesn’t mean they can break windows and throw food at the walls. They are a little too young to understand the saying and know what it means, but it’s kinda comical. Sorry for the unrelated thought but it popped into my head.

Anyways, yeah why would God say WHATEVER WE ASK!? He’s such a stinker. I mean I want to be jacked and be able to fly.

What did you say? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT WOULDN’T GLORIFY THE FATHER?! That’s not even a part of… oh. I see that part. Well, I’d be all flying around and cool… it’d be awesome!! Ok ok… I guess I see it would be awesome for me, but not do anything for Him.

So essentially I get what I want if I pray for Him to provide things that are in line with how Jesus called us to work and if it glorifies God? How am I supposed to even know what that is?!? How do I know that flying isn’t one of those things!?

I guess we should just pray and ask, and trust that God’s not a liar. He must be telling the truth here and if He doesn’t provide it then it isn’t glorifying to Him or is destructive for us… instead of being like a kid who freaks out when we don’t get our way because we think the world is ending. I guess I’m fine trusting God’s wasn’t lying when He said that. I’m also fine I GUESS trusting that my first impression of that verse could have been a LITTLE off, I guess.

Respond:

Spend 1 minute thanking God you aren’t as odd as me. Then spend 1 minute thanking God that even when we misunderstand him (you not me) that He still loves us and teaches us. THENNNN (I know it’s like two whole minutes already) spend 2-3 minutes asking God to help you think and pray in line with Christ so that you can truly see God acting in your life.

Relate:

Take some time to chat with people around you. God wants us to be connecting with people so that we can share what we are learning. It’s when we are connecting with people that they can tell you: hey, that sounds like something a kid would say… Yeah, I’ve been there. I told people I was going to fast until I died from hunger if God didn’t talk… and I saw the response of people. lol.