“Nurturing Growth”

“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

James 4:3

K.J.V.

EXPLORATION

“You Think You Know, But You Really Don’t”

”But Jesus answered and said, ‘Ye know not what ye ask.  Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him,’ ‘we are able.’”

Matthew 20: 22

K.J.V.

Is there a time in my life when I asked for something I really wanted only to realize later what I’d wanted so badly wasn’t for my own good?

“I have had prayers answered – most strangely so sometimes – but I think our Heavenly Father’s loving-kindness has been even more evident in what He has refused me.”

Lewis Carroll

INSPIRATION

            Have you ever asked for something, prayed for it, longed for it – only to think God had totally overlooked your request?

            I think we can each remember something we wanted very badly.  So we prayed God would answer our prayer.  But He didn’t.  Not in the way we wanted nor at the time we wanted.  I can remember a distinct situation in my life where I wanted something – but in my case it wasn’t some possession, it was a person.  I wanted a certain boyfriend.  I thought he was perfect.  What’s more I thought he was perfect for me.  We dated for a long time and we had known each other even longer.  Finally one day the relationship blew up.  I still remember taking him to the airport, dropping him off so he could fly home while I stayed many miles away.  I wept and wailed in my car driving all the way back home.  I railed at God, “Why didn’t you give me what I wanted,” as I boo-hooed!

            That was thirty-two years ago.  Several months after the experience I just described, God brought someone new into my life.  We’ve been married for thirty years and I have to tell you, God’s wisdom so abundantly surpassed mine!  God knew me better than I knew myself.  And while no relationship is without hills and valleys, God knew that “my Jim” and I were made to be an unbeatable team.  Jim’s outgoing personality balances my more reserved nature.  My optimistic spirit helps Jim see the “glass half full” when he gets a little downcast. God knew best.  And whenever I’ve had something happen in my life that makes me question God’s timing or plan, I look no further than across the dinner table at the man I’ve shared my life with for the past 30 years and I recognize that it is true – we don’t always know what’s best for our lives.

            When I found out that I would never be able to have children I’ll never forget in one of my painful moments my dad came to me and said, “Honey-girl, God never takes anything away from us without having a plan to give us something better.”

            I wondered how my dad knew this fact to be true.  But if we look at the life of Salome, we find it is the same thing Jesus said to this mother and her sons.  “You think you know what you are asking for, but are you really prepared for the results…the consequences of your petition?  I’m going to give you something better than you are asking for!”

            St Augustine , not only a man of prayer but also a person longing to live within the will of God wrote this about coming to God with our requests:  “Prayer is not merely expressing our present desires.  Its purpose is to exercise and train our desires, so that we want what God is getting ready to give us…prayer involves widening our hearts to God.”

As Sundar Singh so perfectly writes, “We cannot alter the will of God, but (our prayers) can discover God’s will.”

            Today as you, like Salome, come to Jesus with the petitions you believe are critical, leave the door open for God to work in His way and in His will.  Watch for His wisdom as He gives you the gifts He has that are best for your life.

             “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill all His promises…leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

AFFIRMATIONS

“Govern all by Your wisdom, O Lord, so that my soul may always be serving You As You will, and not as I choose. Do not punish me, I implore You,  by granting that which I wish or ask, if it offend Your love, which would always live in me. Let me die to myself, that so I may serve you; let me live to You who in Yourself are true life.

Amen.

St. Theresa of Avila

(1515-1582)

“God denies a Christian nothing, but with a design to give (her) something better.”

Richard Cecil

Spiritual Exercise

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
1 Timothy 4:16

Recommended Reading
Ephesians 4:17-24
 
 There are countless philosophies about the correct way to exercise. Some say you need high intensity for short periods of time while others believe low intensity for long stretches is the key to being healthy and staying fit. Regardless of their different opinions, fitness professionals all agree on one thing: Consistency is the most important factor in any exercise regimen. No matter what philosophy you subscribe to, the only way you will see results is with regular activity.

The football legend Dan Marino once said, "I just want to be consistent over a long period of time. That's what the great players do."
 Marino understood that the way players became great was through consistency, which fueled continuous growth in their sport. What they did on a regular basis affected them as individual players and their ability to play on a team.

In the same way, the time we spend strengthening our relationship with God will directly affect our relationship with those around us in a positive way. When we have a healthy spiritual life, God will be able to use us in fresh new ways to affect the lives of others. 

Lord, teach me the importance of consistently spending time with You; that in order to be effective for You, I must be affected by You on a regular basis.