Most Christians believe if we are faithful and pray for what we need, we will eventually get it. After all, Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask and it will be given unto you." Like using a vending machine, we have inserted our coins of tithing, faith and commitment, and prayed for that promotion, or that BMW, or rosy health, or that person to love us more, or our child to stop using drugs.
How frustrated are we when we fail to hear that "thump-a-dump" noise that signals our answered prayer has fallen into the front of the machine? We jiggle it. Nothing. God? Didn't you see that check I sent?
Actually the machines (God's promises) do work, just not the way we'd like to think. John 14:23 is one of MANY scriptures that clearly says God is in us. Colossians 3:2 says "Set your mind and keep it set." So, 1. We have the power of God inside of us. (Pretty amazing.) And 2. We are to think about good things and set our minds on our goals. (Stay positive.) Literally, we cannot allow negative thoughts and fear to shortcut our good plans. There will always be people who are not for us. Forgive them and forget it. Use the powerful God force within you to stay focused, to work for, and receive those things you desire and need.
Here's the key: Everything we do on this earth has to be in partnership with Him. He will always do his part but He will never do our part. The rest of Matthew 7:7 reveals the secret needed to actually receive. It says, "Seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened unto you." There it is. We have to knock and seek and do whatever else it takes to receive the good thing we desire.
The long hours working on issues to help those coming out of incarceration at UNITE INDY, that's our part. The years studying in divinity school, that's the pastor's part. The decades of practice to become Yo-Yo Ma, that's the part of a great cellist. God gives us gifts and expects us to use them to fulfill our God-given desires—our prayers that are pre-answered by the fact that He has given us what we need from birth to achieve His goals and our dreams.
None of us live in a Disney movie, and God is definitely not a vending machine. But, when things aren't resolved the way we expect, remember that with God, there is always a Plan B. He may close a door, or the pandemic shut down might close a door, or a cheating spouse might close a door, but God has a door for us that is open. If we ask for His help, stay positive, and work hard toward the goal as we summon the power of the part of Him that is in us, and pray to the part of Him that is not, there is a future and a hope that has been promised and cannot be denied.
Try it,
Nancy
