Getting Something Different When You Pray?

Have you ever found yourself praying for something and find God giving you something different than what you ask for? Maybe, you continued to pray and God continued to give you something else. This morning I was reading in Mark 2 and a man got something different than what he asked for from Jesus. Jesus had just healed a man with leprosy at the end of Mark 1 and so chapter 1 begins,

"A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and He preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus, because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son your sins are forgiven."

These four men were the best friends that this guy could have, they were, obviously, motivated, had no plans of giving up and were as creative as need be in getting this man to Jesus. They had a "whatever it takes attitude!" Their determination shows that they believed Jesus could and would heal him, if they could just get him there. The scripture says that Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic man, "Son your sins are forgiven." They came seeking for the man to be healed, but what did Jesus give him? He forgave his sins! What we know without this passage specifically saying so, is that the man on the mat had faith too and believed, because throughout all scripture, Old and New Testament, faith was required for your sins to be forgiven, to be counted as righteous. Jesus could have said, "Be healed," and the man gone away healed, (well), able to walk; but Jesus gave much more than was asked for ~ Jesus forgave his sins and the man went away healed and forgiven! Wow! He came to Jesus paralyzed and WALKED AWAY, but with eternal life!

Do we take the time to pay attention to what we're praying for and what Jesus might be trying to give us that's better? Maybe, we're asking God for something and don't seem to be getting it, but are we paying attention to what happens next, after we pray? Do we take note of what's beginning to happen? Are we tuned into what God might be trying to give us? It may be different than what we've asked for, but God might be trying to bless our socks off and we're only focused on what WE want. When we pray, we need to wait on God's response. Are we really paying attention to what God is trying to say to us? Or is the answer we want, the only one we view as a real answer? Prayer is not a one way conversation, prayer is a relationship. We, often, make it about ourselves, but it's about much more! Prayer is about a relationship with a Living God. If we take the time to learn what's on God's heart to do and pray about that, we will see God answer our prayers! When our hearts become one with Him, the passions of His heart will become our own and our prayers will be in line with His will!

John 15:7
"If you remain in me, and my Word remains in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you."(With every promise comes a premise; the premise is our part and the promise is God's.) God promises "if you remain in me and my Word remains in you" (that's our part), if we do our part, God promises, "ask whatever you wish and it will be given you." (His part) We are focused on what we want, but when we remain in the Lord and His Word, it will change "our wanter" and will align our desires with His; therefore, He can say, then, "ask whatever you wish and it will be given you."We will want what He wants!

Psalm 37:3-4 says,
"Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." Notice here, that the premise, (our part), is to delight ourselves in the Lord, and then (His part), His promise, "to give us the desires of our heart," can be fulfilled. Desiring to be with the Lord, delighting ourselves in Him, takes a right relationship with Him. A life without sin, will desire to draw near to Him and we will take great delight in Him. Sin causes us to flee from Him, to go the other way. Again, when we are delighting in the Lord, it will be because our hearts are as one with His and He, then is able to say that He will give us the desires of our heart. Why? Because our hearts will be in unity with His!

Get close to God, spend time with Him and in His Word, become one with Him. I encourage you to keep a spiritual journal, because God will speak to you through His Word and when God of the Universe speaks to you, reveals truth to you, you will want to write it down to remember what He said. When a verse, a word or phrase or a whole passage of scripture stands out to me, in my daily reading, I don't just keep reading, I stop and meditate on it and think about how God's speaking to me through it. I ask myself, what changes I need to make to align myself with God's word and I respond back to Him in prayer. Then, I seek to apply what He's just spoken to me about; I make the needed change in my life and I record it in my journal.

God speaks through His Word, but are we listening? We, often, bound into the throne room of God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth and tell Him what to do, giving Him advice on how and when, as if we were god, ourselves. We allow time to control our lives, often, leaving little or no time for the love relationship with our Creator. We make our apologies and run off, believing more is better, filling our lives with so much we are weary and worn. Yet, the God of the Universe has a purpose and plan for our life, a plan for us to be apart of His redemptive plan to save a lost world! (But we, often, believe what we are doing to be more important.)

If we are aimlessly distracted by time and think more is better, Satan is winning the war! He's convinced us that we and everything else is more important than a relationship with God. I just have to wonder, what's going to be important when this life is over? This life and all we're working toward will be gone, it will be over! Will we have chosen the most important?

I John 5:1- 5 and 11-12 says,
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."

Has God spoken to you through this today? What's He desiring you to do, what does He want your response to be? If He's spoken to you, will you respond to Him right now in prayer? How He longs to know you, more intimately. Prayer is a relationship! A love relationship with God is the most important thing you will ever do with your life! He invites you to come! What could be more important?

What God wants to give you is unimaginable, more than you can think to fathom! We cannot even think to ask all He wants to give us!

Ephesians 3:20-21 says,
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen."

Only the Spirit of God knows what God wants to do in and through your life! Want you let God give you what He wants you to have? Trust Him, He's trustworthy! You can rest in His goodness! He wants to bless your socks off! To know Him, intimately, is the greatest blessing of them all!