Very early on Christmas Eve morning; still trying to adjust to the huge time change from my visit to China. Can't sleep so watched a few WWII documentaries (among other things...). One of the documentaries I watched was on the fall of France in 1940. It took the Germans only five weeks to conquer the country; a country that they were not able to conquer during the whole of WWI.
The documentary presented a few explanations as to the speed of this conquest.
1. Misplaced defenses. The French had spent tons of money and tons of time creating the Maginot line (named after the defense minister who initiated the concept). This was a series of tunnels and pill boxes along the 85 mile French-German border. The problem was, the Germans attacked through the Ardenne Forest and through Belgium - neither of which were protected by the Maginot Line. In addition, the French placed their weakest and least experienced army divisions along the Belgium border and Ardenne forest.
2. Complacency. The French figured that the Maginot Line was impregnable. Although they judiciously maintained and practiced, the feeling was that the Germans could not defeat them.
3. Internal fighting. The French government was in disarray. There was a fight between factions within the cultural that created instability within the leadership of the county.
4. There was an attitude of defeatism within the population. WWI, which had only been over for 20 years, loomed large in the French population's mind. They did not want another long drawn out affair. As soon as it became apparent that the Germans were overwhelming the French army, there was talk of capitulation and armistice.
Does any of this cause you concern as you read it; concerns about the church? Are our defenses misplaced? Are we fighting the right enemy? Do we understand that our adversary is the Devil who is seeking to devour us? Do we understand that the people are held captive by him and do his bidding are not our enemy? Do we gently instruct as Paul taught Timothy (II Tim 2:25; read this verse, it is an incredible verse)? Do we know that our enemy is wise and will attack us on many fronts? Are we looking for our weak spots and moving to reinforce them through study, confession, repentance and reliance on God?
Are we complacent? Are we just trolling along in our spiritual walk, thinking that nothing is going to harm us? Do we understand that the enemy is still active and that he is just waiting for us to put our guard down so he can attack?
Are we putting our energies into fighting among ourselves instead of fighting the enemy? When the world looks at the church, do they see in fighting instead of fighting against the enemy?
Have we given up? Do we have a conqueror attitude (Rom 8:37, I John 4:4)? Have we given up that God will work in us and through us? Have we given up on God?
Lots of questions to think through. Let's not let history repeat itself in the church. I am challenged in a few of these areas, as it is very easy for me to let my guard down, very easy to cost along on the past; forgetting that Satan changes his schemes and I must stay diligent. Think through some of these questions yourself and allow them to challenge you.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Tomorrow morning I am leaving for a trip to China to check out a potential ministry partner for our missions team. We are going to a place 2 hours outside of Kunming (if anybody knows where that it) - an ancient Yi Town. As I am mentally preparing for this trip, the thing that has been running over and over in my mind is the number of people that live in China. 1.3 billion people. This is more than four times the size of the United States.
The thing that is striking me about this large number is that their history is not one of a Christian heritage, but of communism and atheism. A history devoid of God and the story of Jesus. A history of worshiping fire and other gods. A history that by design, designed by the government and Satan, is meant to keep them away from discovering THE God of the universe.
Yet out of this is growing a church. A massive amount of people are turning to Jesus. The church is growing in spite of sometimes harsh and brutal treatment of believers. A passion to know God and build his church is infecting the lives of millions of people - regardless of the cost. (In fact, the number of people accepting Christ is outpacing the number of church leaders that are developing, leaving somewhat of a leadership void.)
I am contrasting this with the state of the church in America - a country that has a rich history of Christianity. Church attendance is declining. Christianity is in decline and is tepid at best. We seem to be more concerned about being grace filled and tolerant than standing on truth and we are loosing our effectiveness to be salt and light to a nation because no one sees any difference between those who are committed to Christ and those that aren't.
Another telling thing that is playing into my thoughts: I was asked last week by some friends from Ukraine "why don't people in the American church read their Bibles and seek after God". A very telling question about how, at least a corner of the world, views our form of Christianity. I gave them this answer - we don't understand the value of having a relationship with God, we value other things more than we value God and therefore we don't pursue God. It seems to me like, as a community of believers, we have been lulled into complacency; content to dabble in religion and really denying the power of it (hummmm.... see II Timothy 3 if you want to see what this says about our culture).
Bottom line - we have a job to do. We have been charged by our Lord and Master to go and make disciples; people who are committed to obedience. Pray for revival in our nation. Pray that the church will begin to expand like the church in China is.
The thing that is striking me about this large number is that their history is not one of a Christian heritage, but of communism and atheism. A history devoid of God and the story of Jesus. A history of worshiping fire and other gods. A history that by design, designed by the government and Satan, is meant to keep them away from discovering THE God of the universe.
Yet out of this is growing a church. A massive amount of people are turning to Jesus. The church is growing in spite of sometimes harsh and brutal treatment of believers. A passion to know God and build his church is infecting the lives of millions of people - regardless of the cost. (In fact, the number of people accepting Christ is outpacing the number of church leaders that are developing, leaving somewhat of a leadership void.)
I am contrasting this with the state of the church in America - a country that has a rich history of Christianity. Church attendance is declining. Christianity is in decline and is tepid at best. We seem to be more concerned about being grace filled and tolerant than standing on truth and we are loosing our effectiveness to be salt and light to a nation because no one sees any difference between those who are committed to Christ and those that aren't.
Another telling thing that is playing into my thoughts: I was asked last week by some friends from Ukraine "why don't people in the American church read their Bibles and seek after God". A very telling question about how, at least a corner of the world, views our form of Christianity. I gave them this answer - we don't understand the value of having a relationship with God, we value other things more than we value God and therefore we don't pursue God. It seems to me like, as a community of believers, we have been lulled into complacency; content to dabble in religion and really denying the power of it (hummmm.... see II Timothy 3 if you want to see what this says about our culture).
Bottom line - we have a job to do. We have been charged by our Lord and Master to go and make disciples; people who are committed to obedience. Pray for revival in our nation. Pray that the church will begin to expand like the church in China is.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Nazi Collaborators
Have a vacation day today and started it off watching a couple of episodes of "Nazi Collaborators" on the Military Channel (which I only have for two more day and then the free trial goes away - rats). One episode was titled "Beast of the Balkans". It was the recounting of an early "ethnic cleansing" of Serbs in the old Yugoslavia during World War II.
A couple of things jumped out at me as I listened to this episode. First, the magnitude. It was estimated that between 330,000 and 1,000,000 Serbs were killed. No one knows for sure because all the records were destroyed before the Allies recaptured the area from the Germans. Secondly, the brutality. It was reported that even the Germans were a bit queasy about how the Croats were "disposing" of the Serbs. They preferred more brutal methods of killing (slitting throats, shooting to death, etc.) than gassing like the Nazi's did. This upset even the Nazi's "tender sensitivities" (HEAVY sarcasm there). Third, the church was complicit in this cleansing (Orthodox Christians were "forced" to convert to Catholicism or else). The last thing was that one of the prime conspirators in this cleansing, fled Europe at the end of the war and lived "peaceably" in Argentina for 50 years - raising a family and working in a factory - no remorse, no sadness, no "I am sorry" (in fact, he laughed at his trial when evidence was presented against him).
Mind you, this was 1941. This was NOT the dark ages. This was not the Huns hacking and slashing their way across Europe. This was in a "civilized" state. Right...............
Two things strike me and scare me about situations like this. First, the severe hatred it would take to treat someone as subhuman, as a piece of garbage to be thrown away like a used napkin. I cannot fathom how much hatred existed between these two groups (refer to the start of WW I also....) that would drive them to think that it was OK to kill that many people - men, women, children, old people. Second, how defiled their consciences must have been to allow them to do such a thing and not sense, feel or exhibit ANY remorse.
Funny how this happens isn't it. The scriptures speaks of the contrast between living at peace and allowing a root of bitterness to grow up (Hebews 12):
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
The "root of bitterness" that grew up in the Croats defiled their consciences as a nation and allowed them to murder hundreds of thousands of people. Their consciences were seared closed because they did not feel any pain, any remorse, any sorrow in doing what they did.
OK, so why is this important. This will not happen today, will it? Oh yes it will. If we do not take care of those little roots of bitterness, if we do not confess our sin and keep our conscience clean and pure, roots grow and cause us to "dehumanize" people and treat them like objects. If we can look at someone in our life with spite and anger, we are on the road to having our life consumed by the root of bitterness and our consciences seared.
My advice? Take care of these things when they are small. Do NOT let your heart become hardened in the course of your day. Do not allow your conscience to be seared. Root out the roots of bitterness. Keep watch on your soul so this does not happen. Make EVERY effort, as the writer of Hebrews says, to live at peace.
A couple of things jumped out at me as I listened to this episode. First, the magnitude. It was estimated that between 330,000 and 1,000,000 Serbs were killed. No one knows for sure because all the records were destroyed before the Allies recaptured the area from the Germans. Secondly, the brutality. It was reported that even the Germans were a bit queasy about how the Croats were "disposing" of the Serbs. They preferred more brutal methods of killing (slitting throats, shooting to death, etc.) than gassing like the Nazi's did. This upset even the Nazi's "tender sensitivities" (HEAVY sarcasm there). Third, the church was complicit in this cleansing (Orthodox Christians were "forced" to convert to Catholicism or else). The last thing was that one of the prime conspirators in this cleansing, fled Europe at the end of the war and lived "peaceably" in Argentina for 50 years - raising a family and working in a factory - no remorse, no sadness, no "I am sorry" (in fact, he laughed at his trial when evidence was presented against him).
Mind you, this was 1941. This was NOT the dark ages. This was not the Huns hacking and slashing their way across Europe. This was in a "civilized" state. Right...............
Two things strike me and scare me about situations like this. First, the severe hatred it would take to treat someone as subhuman, as a piece of garbage to be thrown away like a used napkin. I cannot fathom how much hatred existed between these two groups (refer to the start of WW I also....) that would drive them to think that it was OK to kill that many people - men, women, children, old people. Second, how defiled their consciences must have been to allow them to do such a thing and not sense, feel or exhibit ANY remorse.
Funny how this happens isn't it. The scriptures speaks of the contrast between living at peace and allowing a root of bitterness to grow up (Hebews 12):
14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
The "root of bitterness" that grew up in the Croats defiled their consciences as a nation and allowed them to murder hundreds of thousands of people. Their consciences were seared closed because they did not feel any pain, any remorse, any sorrow in doing what they did.
OK, so why is this important. This will not happen today, will it? Oh yes it will. If we do not take care of those little roots of bitterness, if we do not confess our sin and keep our conscience clean and pure, roots grow and cause us to "dehumanize" people and treat them like objects. If we can look at someone in our life with spite and anger, we are on the road to having our life consumed by the root of bitterness and our consciences seared.
My advice? Take care of these things when they are small. Do NOT let your heart become hardened in the course of your day. Do not allow your conscience to be seared. Root out the roots of bitterness. Keep watch on your soul so this does not happen. Make EVERY effort, as the writer of Hebrews says, to live at peace.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Wow. There are just certain parts of scriptures that scare me. I was reading Amos last night, a shorter book in the Old Testament that was written by a shepherd from a town near Bethlehem. He starts his letter by telling us this so my expectation is that his writing is going to be on the "pastoral" side of things. Not!
Amos, who was a prophet if only for a short while, wrote about the pending destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and the destruction of other surrounding kingdoms (Moab, Philistia, Edom). In the first few sentences of his letter, he paints the historical context of when he spoke these words - when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel, two years before an earthquake that hit the land. I did a little research and found that this was 50-70 years before Israel was actually destroyed and taken away into captivity.
In the grand scheme of history, 50-70 years does not seem like a long time to me. However, if you were there, listening to his words, 50-70 years would feel like what he was saying was never going to come true. I believe that this is a tool of the devil in humanity - scoffing at the future, knowing that there is righteous judgement, but saying and really believing that it is never going to happen to us and therefore what we are doing must be OK in God's eyes. We mistake the patience of God for his approval. We mistake his forbearance for lack of judgment.
I love what Peter says about this in his second letter (II Peter 3:9):
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
His heart is bent on our redemption. His heart is set on grace. His heart is set on bring us to himself, not on judgement. He is patient. He is loving. He desire is that EVERYONE comes to him, but he will have to judge or he is a liar.
God gave the nation of Israel men like Amos to warn of impending judgement. God gave them plenty of time to repent, to turn around, to follow him. Through guys like Amos, he gave specific behaviors that they needed to repent from. The unfortunate thing is that they did not repent and eventually all the things that Amos prophesied came true.
So I ask myself this question - what behaviors do I need to change? What areas of my life am I practicing sinful patterns and since things are going OK, I think that I am OK. What are areas that, as a nation, we are practicing and since things seem to be OK, we think that we are OK. What things are we as believers passively tolerating even though God is not. What areas are you practicing that need to be changed?
There is another verse that strikes me as I think of this - Do not be deceived, God will NOT be mocked, whatever a man sows, he will reap. If he sows to the flesh, he will from the flesh reap destruction. If he sows to the Spirit, he will from the Spirit reap life. God will NOT be mocked. He will judge. He desires repentance and redemption, but if that does not happen, he will judge. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will come. Make sure you are on the blessing side and not the judging side; please.
Amos, who was a prophet if only for a short while, wrote about the pending destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel and the destruction of other surrounding kingdoms (Moab, Philistia, Edom). In the first few sentences of his letter, he paints the historical context of when he spoke these words - when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel, two years before an earthquake that hit the land. I did a little research and found that this was 50-70 years before Israel was actually destroyed and taken away into captivity.
In the grand scheme of history, 50-70 years does not seem like a long time to me. However, if you were there, listening to his words, 50-70 years would feel like what he was saying was never going to come true. I believe that this is a tool of the devil in humanity - scoffing at the future, knowing that there is righteous judgement, but saying and really believing that it is never going to happen to us and therefore what we are doing must be OK in God's eyes. We mistake the patience of God for his approval. We mistake his forbearance for lack of judgment.
I love what Peter says about this in his second letter (II Peter 3:9):
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
His heart is bent on our redemption. His heart is set on grace. His heart is set on bring us to himself, not on judgement. He is patient. He is loving. He desire is that EVERYONE comes to him, but he will have to judge or he is a liar.
God gave the nation of Israel men like Amos to warn of impending judgement. God gave them plenty of time to repent, to turn around, to follow him. Through guys like Amos, he gave specific behaviors that they needed to repent from. The unfortunate thing is that they did not repent and eventually all the things that Amos prophesied came true.
So I ask myself this question - what behaviors do I need to change? What areas of my life am I practicing sinful patterns and since things are going OK, I think that I am OK. What are areas that, as a nation, we are practicing and since things seem to be OK, we think that we are OK. What things are we as believers passively tolerating even though God is not. What areas are you practicing that need to be changed?
There is another verse that strikes me as I think of this - Do not be deceived, God will NOT be mocked, whatever a man sows, he will reap. If he sows to the flesh, he will from the flesh reap destruction. If he sows to the Spirit, he will from the Spirit reap life. God will NOT be mocked. He will judge. He desires repentance and redemption, but if that does not happen, he will judge. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will come. Make sure you are on the blessing side and not the judging side; please.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Asking - Part Last
There are times when I simply do not know what to pray for. When I learn of a death in the family of a close friend, when I hear of a child who has cancer, when there is a tragedy in the community - thees are the situations that I simply so not have words to express a request, a thanksgiving (in everything give thanks - don't really understand how to do that sometimes), or any other kinds of prayer.
I am comforted during these times by what Paul wrote to the church in Rome -
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 with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Rom 8:26-27)
The Spirit prays for me when I don't know what to pray. When I don't have the words, He prays for me. He has a direct line into the Father and represents us before Him.
This is one of the most profound truths of scripture - that in the midst of my weakness, in the midst of my inability to comprehend how messed up the world is and how to communicate effectively with God, the Spirit prays FOR me. He understands where my heart is and what my desires are and also understands that I do not have words to express what is going on in my heart. HE goes to the Father and intercedes for me. HE goes to the Father and expresses, requests, thanks for me. HE communicates to the Father for me. What an incredible asset in our prayer life!
Be liberated by this truth as you pray. If you don't know what to pray, ask the Spirit to pray for you. He is doing it anyway, it is just good to give Him credit!
I am comforted during these times by what Paul wrote to the church in Rome -
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 with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Rom 8:26-27)
The Spirit prays for me when I don't know what to pray. When I don't have the words, He prays for me. He has a direct line into the Father and represents us before Him.
This is one of the most profound truths of scripture - that in the midst of my weakness, in the midst of my inability to comprehend how messed up the world is and how to communicate effectively with God, the Spirit prays FOR me. He understands where my heart is and what my desires are and also understands that I do not have words to express what is going on in my heart. HE goes to the Father and intercedes for me. HE goes to the Father and expresses, requests, thanks for me. HE communicates to the Father for me. What an incredible asset in our prayer life!
Be liberated by this truth as you pray. If you don't know what to pray, ask the Spirit to pray for you. He is doing it anyway, it is just good to give Him credit!
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Asking (praying?) Part III
I am finding that prayer and meditation are related.
Foundational premise (or maybe this is just free information....) - I cannot strictly approach prayer from an asking perspective. I cannot use solely as my mechanism to "get something" from God. If I approach prayer from this perspective, I go right back to "consume it upon my lusts" principle from James. I think that it would be awfully hard to not move into the "my lusts" category if all I ever do is ask for things from God. (In addition, there are plenty of other things that we are to do in prayer - give thanks, pray for others, etc.)
Back to meditation. I find that meditation is listening for me and prayer is talking. This is relationship - listening, talking, understanding, listening, asking, talking, seeking, questioning, listening...... I have to do both - listen and talk. My listening is meditation. My talking is prayer.
What do I meditate on? How my life and my prayers are either in agreement with or in conflict with what God is telling me. Where do I find what God is telling me? The scriptures. (This is why some people teach to pray scripture.) Reading God's word and then asking God about where and what He wants from me and then waiting for an answer from the Holy Spirit, is how I listen to God; this is meditation for me. I have to take this time to slow my mind down, to kind of empty my mind of the "stuff" of life, so I can listen to God speak to me through his Spirit.
Foundational principle #2 - God is out for my best interests and has a deep desire for relationship with me. I know that whatever he says to me, whatever he asks me to do, is for my good and ultimately will be the best thing for me!
Take time to listen and pray today. I am saying that to me. I have to slow down and do the hard work of relationship. I have to spend time with my Lord if I want to have a great relationship with him.
Foundational premise (or maybe this is just free information....) - I cannot strictly approach prayer from an asking perspective. I cannot use solely as my mechanism to "get something" from God. If I approach prayer from this perspective, I go right back to "consume it upon my lusts" principle from James. I think that it would be awfully hard to not move into the "my lusts" category if all I ever do is ask for things from God. (In addition, there are plenty of other things that we are to do in prayer - give thanks, pray for others, etc.)
Back to meditation. I find that meditation is listening for me and prayer is talking. This is relationship - listening, talking, understanding, listening, asking, talking, seeking, questioning, listening...... I have to do both - listen and talk. My listening is meditation. My talking is prayer.
What do I meditate on? How my life and my prayers are either in agreement with or in conflict with what God is telling me. Where do I find what God is telling me? The scriptures. (This is why some people teach to pray scripture.) Reading God's word and then asking God about where and what He wants from me and then waiting for an answer from the Holy Spirit, is how I listen to God; this is meditation for me. I have to take this time to slow my mind down, to kind of empty my mind of the "stuff" of life, so I can listen to God speak to me through his Spirit.
Foundational principle #2 - God is out for my best interests and has a deep desire for relationship with me. I know that whatever he says to me, whatever he asks me to do, is for my good and ultimately will be the best thing for me!
Take time to listen and pray today. I am saying that to me. I have to slow down and do the hard work of relationship. I have to spend time with my Lord if I want to have a great relationship with him.
Monday, October 24, 2011
Asking - part II
Jesus made a pretty bold statement when he was on the planet: "Ask anything in my name and I will do it" (John 14:14). A wide open statement. Ask anything. Anything. Anything at all and He will do it.
What is He trying to tell us? What did he mean? Did He really mean anything?
I really think that He meant what He said - anything. However, that "anything" has a condition on it - in my name, or as another translation puts it, "according to" my name.
One thing Jesus is NOT saying is that if we tack "in Jesus name" on before we end our prayer, He is obligated to answer that prayer. I am not sure where the tradition of adding this phrase on the end of a prayer came from, but I do know that He did not mean us to use this as a "magic" phrase that will get us what we want.
So what did He mean if He didn't mean that? I believe a part of the key is found in James 4:
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
The setting of this section of the letter from James is about fighting, being self centered and trying to get the things that you want. He makes a pretty bold statement at the end of this section: you ask for things but you don't get them because all you want to do is spend it on yourself. The statement is pretty straight forward - when I ask for something that is me centered, that is for my benefit, that is for my pleasure, that fills a worldly longing deep down in my soul - I am not going to get it.
I mean, if I pray that God will use me to serve others, do you think that God will refuse to answer that prayer? If I pray for a new car because I am not content with the one that I have or I am sick of having to repair it all the time, God might think it best to not provide me a new car to "get me out of a jam". If I pray that I will understand what the Spirit is trying to tell me to help me be more obedient, I think that God will grant that request. If I pray that God will give me a different job because I do not like the environment that I am currently working in, God probably will not honor that request.
Here is the problem. It sometimes takes a TON of work to determine the "why" for what I am asking for. Why am I asking for a new car? Why am I asking for the ability to serve? Why do I want a new job? If there is any hint of me in the request, then God is not obligated to answer us; or more appropriately the answer will probably be no. Before I ask, I have to examine my heart. I have to determine if my heart is in the right spot (me or God centered).
If it is, ask for anything!
What is He trying to tell us? What did he mean? Did He really mean anything?
I really think that He meant what He said - anything. However, that "anything" has a condition on it - in my name, or as another translation puts it, "according to" my name.
One thing Jesus is NOT saying is that if we tack "in Jesus name" on before we end our prayer, He is obligated to answer that prayer. I am not sure where the tradition of adding this phrase on the end of a prayer came from, but I do know that He did not mean us to use this as a "magic" phrase that will get us what we want.
So what did He mean if He didn't mean that? I believe a part of the key is found in James 4:
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
The setting of this section of the letter from James is about fighting, being self centered and trying to get the things that you want. He makes a pretty bold statement at the end of this section: you ask for things but you don't get them because all you want to do is spend it on yourself. The statement is pretty straight forward - when I ask for something that is me centered, that is for my benefit, that is for my pleasure, that fills a worldly longing deep down in my soul - I am not going to get it.
I mean, if I pray that God will use me to serve others, do you think that God will refuse to answer that prayer? If I pray for a new car because I am not content with the one that I have or I am sick of having to repair it all the time, God might think it best to not provide me a new car to "get me out of a jam". If I pray that I will understand what the Spirit is trying to tell me to help me be more obedient, I think that God will grant that request. If I pray that God will give me a different job because I do not like the environment that I am currently working in, God probably will not honor that request.
Here is the problem. It sometimes takes a TON of work to determine the "why" for what I am asking for. Why am I asking for a new car? Why am I asking for the ability to serve? Why do I want a new job? If there is any hint of me in the request, then God is not obligated to answer us; or more appropriately the answer will probably be no. Before I ask, I have to examine my heart. I have to determine if my heart is in the right spot (me or God centered).
If it is, ask for anything!
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