Recently I decided to launch a website for my writing after years of prayer. The process wasn’t as easy as I hoped even with God on my side. The designer I wanted was booked. I reached out to another designer, at first things were great, a week later we parted ways.
Let me clarify, there is no such thing as “unanswered” prayers, God always answers prayer, just not how we like. Sometimes it is yes, but more likely it will be “no” or wait!
Therefore, we must learn to be patient. Remember Lazarus? He was Jesus’ friend Jesus allowed to die for God’s glory (John 11:1-44!) I don’t think that’s what Martha and Mary wanted.
After praying for God’s will, I decided to use a marketing team near where I live. Once again everything was going smoothly. My designer was preparing to send me the contract, so I went for a ride, being outside is one of my favorite places to be quiet and listen to God.
While I was out biking, I received an email from the designer, and it wasn’t what I expected. Unfortunately, it was the same story, they didn’t want to do the work either and I hoped that’s a joke. I turned to God. After a prayer, I sensed God say, this isn’t about what you want.
Convicted, I rushed home and emailed my designer and offered to compromise. To my surprise they agreed. Things worked out better than I had hoped, not because I got what I wanted—because I listened to God.
I wasn’t getting my way, but God’s best—which is His will, not ours. God willing, this will be my last blog post on Blogger, beginning next month read my blogs at MartinThomasJohnson.com. Prayer reveals if we have faith or fire insurance. Nothing reveals spiritual maturity like our prayer life.
Prayer life?
While in the garden, Jesus prayed for God’s will. This is interesting because it shows Jesus didn’t want to go to the cross—He didn’t want to suffer—yet He wanted to be obedient to God. Jesus said a lot about praying.
His teachings contradicted Jewish tradition, even the church’s. Nothing stunts spiritual growth like tradition. The Jewish community has prayer for everything, and they aren’t short.
Jesus taught His disciples not to pray long public prayers, but to go to God with their needs, even though God already knows what we need before we ask (Matthew 6:8.) Prayer was never meant to be a magic wishlist of dreams, that is what the lost do (Matthew 6:7.) Prayer has always been about seeking God’s will over ours. Like a loving Father, God wants us to come to Him for our needs, He wants to know we need Him, keep on holdin’ on.
Despite popular church teachings, prayer does not change things or an invincible God (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8.) Prayer changes us and our desires, it aligns our hearts with God’s, He isn’t a puppet. The psalmist pleaded with God to give him a new heart and new desires (Psalm 51:8-10.)
If anything changes, it isn’t because of us or our pleading, it is because it is God’s divine will. I can testify God performs miracles, but it isn’t because of any of man’s doing, it is an act of God. God wants to give us a new heart for Him and new desires.
Andrew Murray explains, “God is able to do for us exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think, and we are in danger of limiting Him, when we confine our desires and prayers to our own thoughts of them.”
Our hearts are made of flesh and believers do not to live by the flesh, but by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-17.) That’s why I am against chasing desires of our hearts; it isn’t biblical. Just because some money hungry television evangelist says so, doesn’t mean it is biblical.
As a Christian man one of the biggest turnoffs is a woman who only regurgitates what she has learned from her parents or from watching TV. Paul challenged believers who are mature to live by the Spirit, because they know how God works (1 Corinthians 2:6.)
I thank God He doesn’t always answer my prayers like I want, I’m still blessed. We’ve all experienced God’s divine intervention in sparing us from bad relationships, situations, and jobs. When I was in my 30s, I experienced a heartbreak when a friendship and budding relationship didn’t work out, which led to the betrayal of church family.
The situation almost killed me, I reached out to my mentor who reminded me that, it wasn’t my first heartache or disappointment and wouldn’t be my last. That wasn’t what I wanted to hear, but I knew it was the truth. God was speaking to me through more mature believers than I was.
Intercessory Prayer!
A church’s prayer life reveals their spiritual maturity, mature believers know God knows best and sometimes that means “no” to our deepest desires. What are you afraid of? What blows my mind is when prideful popular teachers say it is the enemy trying to discourage us and make us feel guilty.
It’s further evidence that they are not true followers of Jesus, Who told His disciples they wouldn’t be rich and famous (Matthew 8:21.) Not only are they blind to the truth, they don’t even know the voice of God. Scripture is clear that the Holy Spirit will convict us of our sin and lead us into the truth when we listen, listening is part of praying.
God will nudge us when we are going the wrong way, He cares too much to remain silent. A few days after I spoke on the phone with my mentor, I received a letter from him in the mail, it was a letter from his men’s group encouraging me to trust God. The letter came with the picture above I keep in my bedroom to remind me how God works through our prayerlife!
