Ask And It Will Be Given

When I was sick I wanted to be healed and I prayed for that. While praying for that I knew that healing comes in different forms. God could heal me spiritually. God could heal me physically. God could give me the ultimate healing by taking me on to Heaven to spend eternity with Him. At my healing service I prayed that God knew my heart and that I want to be healed physically and be here with my family but not my will but His will be done. I will forever believe I was healed that day.

One night Mike told me that he had told God that he would not be angry with Him if I was not healed physically. This was such a gift to me. My girls would need a Dad to help them through this time who was not angry but knew God is good and loving. One of the Sundays that I was going through a really tough time our praise band sang a song that my husband, had picked out. It is called, "Even If The Healing Doesn't Come" by Kutless. Here are some of the words: "Even if the healing doesn’t come--And life falls apart--And dreams are still undone--You are God You are good. Forever faithful One....Lord we know Your ways are not our ways--So we set our faith in who You are--Even though You reign high above us--You tenderly love us--We know Your heart--And we rest in who You are."

When I was thinking about how to explain "ask and you shall receive" this story came to mind. Yes, I wanted to be healed physically and even though not all doctors thought it was possible I knew God was in control. I knew God holds the future and knows what is best for me. Proverbs 3: 5-6, " Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Jeremiah 29: 11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

There are things we will not get even if we ask for them and there are scripture that tell us that. James 4: 2-3, "You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Obviously these things do not line up with God's will.

Mark 11: 24, "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Even if we believe it we will not get it if it is for our own personal satisfaction. Our requests should be acts of love that benefit others. Mark 11: 23, " Truly[ I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them." We have to believe it! We have to have faith!

1 John 5: 14, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us." Our requests have to be according to His will. There are times, such as when I was sick, that I do not know God's will. I had the faith that He could heal me but I was not 100% sure if He would heal me physically. He may have needed to use me for a greater purpose. He may have needed me to be "down" for a while to help me learn to rely on Him and not myself. That is why I prayed not my will but His will be done. Mark 14: 36, "'Abba, Father,' he said, 'everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.'”

Let's not forget the first part of that verse. "Everything is possible for you." Our God can do anything! He can certainly heal someone if He can raise the dead. 2 Corinthians 1: 9, "Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." God will give us a blessing but it may not be the way we expected.

1 John 5: 14-15, "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.  And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him." When I was in college and my parents say they were going to deposit money in my checking account I believed them. I would no longer worry about my balance (that day). Even though I was away and could not see the deposit receipt I knew they had made the deposit. I believed they had answered my problem even though the answer just came from their word. It is the same with God but He is the MOST reliable! He has given us His word and He hears us!

Never doubt the power of prayer. One small prayer can change your life!