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As I pray for situations to be addressed by God in my life and in the lives of others, and as I pray for God’s blessings in my life and in the lives of others, there are several things that I’ve come to realize that I should never fail to consider carefully as I petition God. As most Christians, I’m aware that my prayers must be in accordance with God’s will. It’s also exciting to find that in addition to the revelation of God’s will as it is written in His law, we also have His promises. Unlike mankind, God always keeps His promises and therefore I know that when I find a promise from God in scripture, it is a statement of His will for me and that I should seek it. I’ve also found that most of His promises are conditional. That is, they have an “if this…then this” format. In John 14: 13-14 Jesus said:
Why is it then that I have at times discovered a promise of God, prayed for it to come into my life or the lives of others, and yet I’ve either failed to see it come to pass or I’ve seen it delayed in coming about? After all, He promises these things to His children, and we are His children, right? Doesn’t God say in Psalm 37:4 that He will give you the desires of your heart? Most believers at this point raise their hand like they’re in a 5th grade classroom (Ooh, ooh, I know this one!)
So then what is “asking amiss” or what am I misunderstanding concerning the appropriation of the promises of God? If Jesus came that I might have life, and life abundantly, how can I realize that abundance in my daily life? What causes delays in receiving of the promises of God? First of all, I’ve come to realize that I don’t get to make the choice of which of God’s promises I can “claim.” That is a choice that can only be made by One who knows us at the heart level. That is the job of the Holy Spirit and not of the believer. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to identify which promise of God can be appropriated into my life and to supply the faith that I need to receive it. My spiritual growth is thwarted by my continual insistence on thinking that I know what is best for my life. The Holy Spirit is the One who actually knows whether the timing of the thing that I am requesting is right. He also knows whether or not my character is developed enough to accommodate my request. Asking amiss, on the other hand, is my specialty, even when I believe that I’m more than ready to receive God’s promises. As with many believers, my shortcomings are twofold: I have a lacking vision of God and His purposes accompanied by an internal war with my old sin nature. Paul speaks of the latter in the book of Romans as he describes his internal battle between his old nature and the new creature that he became at his conversion. Oswald Chambers addresses the former like this:
If I’m not experiencing Christian growth and finding abundant life, then that should be my cue to ask the Holy Spirit to show me what I need to do next and then obey Him. Knowing that God has great and precious promises for His children, and that He has already made those promises to me, I need to take those promises to the point of provision. In short, I need to make the Holy Spirit my best friend.
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I would
like to suggest that instead of continually having to go under God’s
surgical knife in finding God’s provision for abundant life, it is better
to take a proactive approach and simply ask the Holy Spirit to daily be my
guide in finding out if there is a promise in God’s Word that I can be
prepared for adding to my life in Christ in my present circumstances. I
don’t believe that there can be even a hint of an attitude of entitlement
in such a request. I must be willing to be truthful about my character
both with God and with myself. If the Holy Spirit shows me to surrender
certain habits, or certain “rights,” then I should not expect progress
until I have done so. When God has told me that I must deliberately die to
my old nature, just as I must one day die physically and thereby leave
that old nature and its desires behind, then dying to self is no longer
optional for me. I must take the lead in creating a void that the old sin
nature and patterns once occupied. Only then can I expect Him to keep His
promise to me. And yes, with rare exception, I must create the
void. God’s Word says for me to put to death the old sin nature. It
says for me to refuse to yield my members (including my mind) to
sin. It says for me to no longer allow sin to have dominion over
me. In addition, it tells me to put on the mind of Christ. Those
are all action verbs. I am required to be proactive in appropriating
the promises of God, and even then only as the Holy Spirit shows me which
of God’s promises I’m truly prepared to claim! That’s because it isn’t
only “not about me,” it’s actually not usually even about the issues that
I think it’s about. It’s all about Jesus Christ and glorifying Him.
If, as Paul says to the Galatians, “I am crucified with Christ,” then I
can rightly deduce that what remains of me that has life, as God defines
life, and that would be my spirit. With that in mind, the apostle John
teaches in 1 John 3:9 that this quickened spirit, this new creation that
God has created in me cannot practice sin because it is born of
God. Sin, although it resides in me, no longer has dominion over me as it
did before God quickened my spirit and gave me His Holy Spirit to live
inside of me. I now have the power to choose between abundant life or sin!
As I approach receiving God’s promises, I must ask myself this question:
Until I have come to the point of submission to God’s will and a
willingness to deny self, why should I think that I have the wisdom or
even the position before God to choose which of God’s promises I’m ready
for in any circumstance of life?
