Good morning bold confident women of God,
Many have read the scripture from Matthew 7:7NLT; "Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you". This scripture promises that if we seek with earnestness, diligence, and perseverance what we seek shall be given us.
Now the underlying thought is that when we seek with a proper spirit, humility, sincerity, and perseverance that is consistent for what God ordains and is in His honour & glory we shall receive.
Think about it this way, as young ladies (children), we knew the hearts and minds of our parents and usually, without a doubt, we knew the things that they would or would not allow in our lives. Even before we asked, we pretty much knew whether or not we would get a yay or nay.
We had great confidence to come boldly into their presence and ask for something when we knew that it met their approval. But, when we knew that our request wouldn't really fit into the values or house rules that they were instilling in us; that their yes wasn't a guarentee; we became a bit more creative.
You know, maybe asking a brother/sister or friend to go with us when we had to present our request or even sending them ahead and alone to plead our cause.
And do I need to mention if the answer was no, how we really put the pressure on... doing extra chores, being very helpful (sucking up as some say) or the attitude we showed, maybe tears or tantrums, or the favorite line, " You just don't want me to be happy (guilt) or the dreaded " So & so's parents are letting them."
Come on ladies let's be honest we were some master manipulators at those times trying everything in our power to have our own way.
But our parents always had our best interest in mind and many times knew to give in to our demands would have some bad consequences so their no's remained no's..
Maybe you heard this before, God always answers prayers. Sometimes it's 'Yes'. Sometimes the answer is 'No'. Sometimes the answer is "Really, are you kidding me"
How many times do our prayers,appear as childish requests? But because of our own personal desperate needs or selfish passionate desires, we expect God to answer us in the way we want Him to. We really aren't seeking His face and our hearts aren't open to discerning His perfect will.
We follow a practiced prayer formula or put in action our religious methods learned over the years and then become confused and sometimes even angered when we don't receive our answer. All the while, God is sitting on His throne and shaking His head saying, "Really, are you kidding me."
Just like our physical parents, God watches over us with grace, love, & protection. He doesn't always give us what we want, but He always gives us His best and what we need. Our disappointment may not allow us to see His wisdom working for us, but , "God's ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts." Isaiah 55:9 As His daughters, the more we press into Him and have a personal relationship with Him we will grow in the knowledge of Him and this knowledge will direct us in His will.
Once this happens we can and will trust in Him alone to give us what He knows to be best. When we reach this place we will find that our prayers will be in agreement with His eternal plan.
And when we ask in proper spirit we shall ask and receive.