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.”

Romans 8:26

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

One of the most confusing (and dangerous) doctrines to affect the Church in recent years is the idea that, because of His promises in Scripture, God must give you what you want in the way that you want it. If your finances are in trouble, insist that God bless you with wealth. If your health is less than perfect, force God’s hand and He will make you well. Whatever you want today, God will give it to you… because He must. After all, God promises to answer prayers.

This type of teaching is misleading, inaccurate, and downright sinful. God is not some cosmic genie, waiting to patiently do our bidding. He is the holy, sovereign Creator of the universe, and we were created for His glory… not vice versa.

1 John 5:14-15 tells us that God DOES promise to hear (and answer our prayers), but God does not promise to give us whatever we want. He promises to hear and to answer, it’s just that sometime His answer is no. 

If you don’t get the answers you expect or desire from your prayers, you are in good company. Paul prayed that God would remove a thorn in his flesh; God didn’t but He strengthened him through it. Elijah prayed that he would die; God chose to restore Him. Jesus prayed in the garden that God would remove this cup; God didn’t because it wasn’t His will and of course, Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done. Each of these men held onto faith in God, despite not receiving the answers desired. By the way – not one of these men lived with material comforts or wealth. 

God does not promise to make our lives comfortable either. As long as we live in this sinful world, pain and discomfort will be an ever-present reality. The hope of Christ is that, even in the midst of that, God is with us and we will never be forced to live without Him. As a result of that, commit yourself to follow Jesus… even when the path is tougher than you expect.

Can you think of how you have “presumed” on God, expecting Him to give you X ?

What do you think is a natural result of “expecting” too much from God? God could give us ANYTHING we want, but a good parent would NEVER give their child everything they want for obvious reasons!