Petitioning God 2

My daughter Gretchen's picture of a Florida sunset.
Oswald Chambers had an interesting perspective on prayer in My Utmost For His Highest. "Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him" ( Matthew 6:8 ). Then why should we ask? The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him. If we pray only because we want answers, we will become irritated and angry with God. We receive an answer every time we pray, but it does not always come in the way we expect, and our spiritual irritation shows our refusal to identify ourselves truly with our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove that God answers prayer, but to be living trophies of God’s grace."

God listens to His children, wants our communication, but doesn’t always give us what we desire. What else does God say about asking of Him?
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Present your requests … Notice the graphic contrast here. To fret, worry, fear, get uptight – to be anxious is natural but not necessary. The peace of God guards heart and mind – that is what is available. The Lord’s best plan is for His children to enjoy the peace of trustingly presenting requests (that which could result in anxiety) and leaving the results up to Him.

Peace of mind comes not from getting desired outcomes, but from trustingly making our requests known to God.

Every time we trustingly present a request, we are reminded that He is our Abba PaPa, wanting the best for His children. My peace of mind doesn’t come from God healing me of Parkinson’s. It comes from the knowledge that as I make my request known to God, He is in charge of providing the best results for me. (This, however, doesn’t negate my responsibility of taking medication, exercising, reducing stress and eating right.)



Again, Peace of mind comes not from getting desired outcomes, but from trustingly making our requests known to God, knowing that He is listening and that He is in charge of providing the best results for me. PRAISE THE LORD!



Tomorrow: a prerequisite for petitioning God. My comment link isn't working. So if you have a comment to the posts, you can use my email address: rburwick@mindspring.com.