During a minister’s prayer, there was a loud whistle from the congregation. Gary’s mother was horrified. Later she asked, “Gary, whatever made you do that?” Gary answered soberly, “I asked God to teach me to whistle, and just then he did!”
It can be very easy to take a single verse of the Bible and when it is not read in context with the verses before or after it, the verse can seem to be a promise, such as Matthew 21:22. Then when the answer we want doesn’t come, we think or someone might say, “You just didn’t have enough faith.” However, this verse was a “teaching moment” for the disciples and the point of the lesson was that faith is the basis for answered prayer. The faith that Jesus was teaching about, is the kind of faith where we know what God’s will is and because we are aligned with God’s will, we can pray in faith and know God will answer. True faith is always tuned in to knowing God’s will and we can only know God’s will by having an intimate relationship with Him. Because God only has our best interest in mind, He is not going to give us anything and everything we pray for just like a loving parent would not give a child something dangerous or harmful. We might pray for something we think we need, but God might have something even better for us a little down the road. So when you are praying, be sure your requests are within His will…then you can pray with the faith that Jesus was teaching about.
God, Love and Marshmallow Wars: This book contains 365 daily challenges for couples to strengthen their relationships to each other and with God. Couples will complete activities such as Scripture memory, conversation starters, relationship builders, learning about Biblical marriage, romance builders, personal reflections, and date ideas. Click here to purchase your copy. (This link will open a new widow and take you to Westbow Press’ bookstore.) Also available on Amazon and Barnes & Nobel.
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