Ask God, expect answers
Yesterday, I was reminded of this scripture from James 1:5-8
- “If you need wisdom–if you want to know what God wants you to do–ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking. But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to answer, for a doubtful mind is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. People like that should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. They can’t make up their minds. They waver back and forth in everything they do.”
It is so simple, yet so profound. As I re-read this scripture, it rejuvenated my faith. God desires to help us, to answer our questions, to respond to our need for wisdom. God desires to speak to us, and he doesn’t resent us for asking.
Everyday, we have a myriad of decisions we have to make. Our life is not decided on the big decisions we make every now and then. No. Our life is determine by the cumulative decisions we make every day.
Too often, we rush into a prayer, “Lord, what should I do in this situation?” We wait long and hard for 12 seconds. But, after “hearing” nothing, we run off and make our own decision. That’s not expecting God to speak. That’s not faith.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith, it’s impossible to please God.” God loves it when we believe, when we have faith. If we ask God for wisdom for a situation, we need to listen, and really listen. Press in, hold on, wait. He’ll respond. He promised he would. Don’t be like a wave on the sea tossed about by the storms of doubt. Believe.
What does an answer from God sound like, look like, feel like? I don’t think there is any single way that God answers. I would expect it to be different every time. I think about when my son comes to me with a question. Sometimes, I just tell him the answer. Sometimes, I tell him a story to exemplify the answer. Other times, I get up and show him the answer. There’s even times I want him to search out the answer through a different means. It’s different for different circumstances.
Don’t go to God like he’s a giant spiritual wikipedia–plug in the question, spit an answer. No, that’s not relationship. God is far more concerned about you, not just the answers you need. Sure, he wants you to come to him when you need wisdom, but come to him through relationship, not just through a need to know something.
This week, when your faced with a decision, I challenge you to go to God. Ask him. Listen. Wait. Listen some more. Press in. Listen carefully.
Expect an answer.
Following with your whole heart
Christianity, Life in Christ. Is it an act of man, or is it an act of God?
If we answer with a Biblical understanding, it is an act of God to which humans surrender. God, through the cross, accomplished a great exchange, trading our need for His free gift, to which we surrender in faith.
Now try this question: Freedom. Is it an act of man, or is it an act of God?
This is the exact same question. What God offers us in Jesus Christ is not an exalted man whom we should try to follow as best as we can. Rather, again, He offers a great exchange where He trades our inability for the free gift of His ability.
We live in a time in history when western thinkers are re-learning the importance of living from our hearts. I am concerned, however, that this shift sets up a new form of law. Now, along with the requirement that we should obey rules, we also receive a new requirement, that we should be passionate followers of Jesus.
Here is what it sounds like, in sermons and conversations.
- “He gave His all, should we do any less?”
- “You need to decide to follow Jesus with your whole heart”
- “Will you give God your everything?”
- “We need to be fully devoted…”
While I may sound a bit heretical for questioning such whole hearted, passionate statements, consider this dilemma. In those statements, and others like them, do you hear anything that could not be applied to any other human, or organization? Could you not follow a political figure with your whole heart? Could you not be fully devoted to an influential poet, or rock band? You see, at the root of statements like these, is the push toward reliance on our ability, desire, or commitment to dosomething. An act of man, or an act of God? These statements push us toward relying on our passion, our devotion, or our whole-heartedness.
This is the very dilemma that the Apostle Paul addressed with the early believers in Galatians Chapter 3.
“Did you start this walk with the Lord by following the works of the law, or by believing (in Him) and receiving (what He did)?”, He asks them.
Then he follows with the crucial second question, “Then do you now live this new life by the works of the law (your ability to perform), or by believing (in Him) and receiving (what He did)?”
While it is important to love Him with our whole being, would it even be possible for us to love Him if He did not first love us?
While it is important to follow Him with our whole heart, can we manufacture this whole-heartedness without His restoration? And didn’t He “follow” , or pursue us long before we even knew it was an option to follow Him?
While our passion is a valid response to His offer, it was His Passion that opened the door for our hearts to be rightly directed. It was His passionate following of us that made it possible for our relationship with Him to be restored. It was His power in us that made us new creations, and it is His power in us that allows us to live as new creations.
I am in no way suggesting that we have no role in living an engaged relationship with our saving Father. I am however urging us to remember He is both the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Our role is to relax and let Him do His part. Jesus tells us, “I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give My life as a ransom for many.” Here is how we can understand this; Jesus came to do the things for you that are impossible for you to accomplish without Him. This covers more territory than you think.
Jesus is really really good at Christianity, we should let Him do it.
Mind war
When I take the time to dig deep into the areas of my life that are struggling, it always comes back to my thoughts, my mind. I am growing more convinced that our spiritual battle is waged in our minds.
If the enemy can convince you of something, and you believe it, then he’s got you. Belief is the tool God uses to release his power on the earth. And the devil knows that, so he also uses our belief in a counterfeit way to release his hellish power into our lives.
Jesus said, “Have faith in God. I assure you that you can say to this mountain, ‘May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,’ and your command will be obeyed. All that’s required is that you really believe and do not doubt in your heart. Listen to me! You can pray for anything, and if you believe, you will have it.” (Mark 11:22-24).
When Jesus said, “Have faith in God”, he was simply saying, “Believe.” He didn’t say go and do something. He said to believe. That starts in our mind.
The key to victory in any area of your life starts with your thoughts. What you think about leads to action. What you believe about yourself, about your situation, about others will come to pass. And, it’s not those one-time random thoughts that will come to pass—it’s those constant, pounding, never-ending thoughts that you focus on and believe that will come to pass.
- I’ll never beat this depression.
- I’ll always be a failure.
- My marriage won’t last.
- My grandpa died from cancer, so I’ll probably die from cancer.
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7).
We’ve got to stop accepting these thoughts like they are our own! We must “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). We must hunker down and wage this mental war as fiercely as it’s being waged against us by the devil.
To overcome any issue in your life, you must change the way you think and believe. This is what God commands us to do throughout scripture:
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is” (Romans 12:2).
We must let God change the way we think about things, then we’ll really know what his will is for our lives.
As I wrote and finished this post, I thought, It sure would be good to share a real-life, practical example of this in my own life.
So, here it goes. When I was a kid, I had these episodes of fear that were incredibly intense. Terrifying. They would often manifest themselves in panic attacks, agoraphobia and sheer terror. This went on for years. In college, I was officially diagnosed with “Chronic Anxiety and Panic Disorder”. At this time, I wasn’t really a Christian. I pretty much believed every thought that came into my mind.
In 1991, I became a Christian, but it wasn’t until years later that I learned this principal of faith and thoughts. I started a website ministry called Season of Peace for Christians battling anxiety and panic attacks.
Throughout this condition, I constantly battled negative thoughts. I will never get free from this. These kinds of things run in the family. There’s no hope for me. I guess I’ll just have to live with this. I’ll probably need medication the rest of my life.
Any of that sound familiar? But, in 2000, I experienced this mind change. God showed me that I can change things by changing the way I think about them. I don’t have to live like this. God whispered into my heart, “You can be free.” And, here’s the key: I believed him.
Shortly after that revelation, I started believing in freedom. I started to believe that I don’t have to live my life in fear, or fear of the fear. I don’t have to rely on medication the rest of my life, like my doctor said. I can believe God.
Today, it has been more than eight years since that revelation, and life is awesome! No more panic attacks. No more crippling anxiety. No more fear.
God spoke to my heart, and I believed him. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and life more abundantly (John 10:10).
Thank you, Lord, for my freedom in Christ.
The Flood
It’s still a fascinating concept if you think about—God restricting his power on the earth and limiting it through us. What a sobering concept!
Psalm 78:41 says, “Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” Wow, the Israelites tempted God and limited him. They limited God. How was that? Through their unbelief, they limited God.
I was talking to my son the other day about this concept of how God needs us, and how throughout the Bible, God would not do anything unless it was in cooperation with a person. Immediately, my son said, “Well, what about the Flood?”
Hmmm? Good question.
So, I re-read the Flood story, looking specifically for an instance where someone prayed for judgement or some sort of human interaction. Obviously, Noah was found righteous and instructed to build the boat, but did God consult Noah beforehand? Here’s what I found in Genesis:
- But Noah found favor with the LORD. This is the history of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with him. (Genesis 6:8-9).
It doesn’t say specifically that Noah prayed and God responded with the Flood, but it does indicate some human interaction and possible intercession. It says that Noah “enjoyed a close relationship with [God]“. I think it’s very likely that God and Noah were talking about the current state of humanity throughout the earth, and God’s heart grieved that he ever created Man. But, Noah was there, by his side, talking with God.
Even at the Flood, I believe God consulted a human on what to do, and it was through that same man that God saved all of humanity.
When you think about it, if God had not limited himself years ago with the initial creation of Adam, he could have easily wiped out the earth and started over from scratch again. But, he couldn’t. His irrevocable laws and principles were in place already. He chose to limit himself through them.
What does God want to do through you?
God needs you
Wow, did you catch that title? God needs you.
Kind of a bold statement, wouldn’t you say? God—creator of the universe, totally self sufficient and all powerful—needs you.
How can that be? God doesn’t need anything. Agreed. But, I believe God has chosen to need us. He doesn’t need us to exist, but I believe he has chosen us to rule and reign over the earth.
Let’s start at the beginning.
Adam and Eve were on the earth, and God gave them a simple command, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).
They were given a simple command. Take control of the earth. They were in charge of their huge Home. But, something happened. Satan deceived them and that control was handed over to him. All of sudden, there was a new “ruler of this world” (John 12:31). Adam and Eve surrendered their control.
Prior to the Fall, God set laws and ordinances in place so that man would rule and reign over the earth. It was their job to “subdue the earth and have dominion.”
God purposely limited his power and involvement on the earth. In fact, God does nothing without the help of man. Nothing on earth can happen without man’s involvement. Think about some of the stories in the Bible:
-
David & Goliath: God could have easily stricken Goliath dead, but he didn’t. He chose a boy, David, to take him down (1 Samuel 17).
Mount Carmel: There were more than 900 evil “prophets”, and God wanted to demonstrate his power, but he required just one man to show his power through. Elijah prayed and God responded (1 Kings 18).
The Disciples: Why didn’t Jesus just broadcast his message to the world? He did, but through his 12 followers. It was their job to carry his message to the ends of the earth (Mark 16:15).
Way too many people are passive in their walk with God. Well, if God wants to do it, he’ll just do it. Wrong! God is waiting for you to pray, to believe, to “take dominion”. He has chosen to need us as his conduit into the earth. It’s our job, our responsibility to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth.
Be careful here. We don’t have the power to do supernatural things here on the earth. We only have natural power (strength, knowledge, movement, reason). But, if we surrender our “natural powers” to God through prayer and faith, then God will release his supernatural power through us into the earth.
Let me show you this in scripture using one of my favorite versus from Ephesians 3:20. Most Christians can quote it by memory: “God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
It doesn’t sound like God needs us, does it? Well, that’s because we never quote the whole scripture. There is one small phrase at the end of that verse that most people leave off: “…according to the power that works in us.” Those words “…according to” literally mean “limited through us”.
God can do wonderfully, exceedingly amazing things in the earth and in our lives, but they must be done through prayer and faith, and through our relationship with God in Christ Jesus.
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