Ask and you shall receive, Maybe.

By Brittany B.

She is amazing and brilliant and beautiful and extra special.

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Enjoy!

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Jesus is an extremely practical God. Unlike most people, He has no problem being forthright about what He desires. Because of this, He expects us to also be forthright when it comes to what we desire from Him. Matthew 7:7 in the New King James version of the Bible says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” In the remaining portion of that passage, Jesus reassures those whom He is teaching that God is willing to give them good things if they are willing to ask. 

He is simply telling us that if we’re willing to make our requests known, our Father will answer our requests according to His will. When we are making our requests known to Him however, it is extremely important that we are consistently in prayer. James 5:16 reminds us that when the righteous fervently pray, the prayers are strong and effective.

Praying consistently and passionately does not come naturally for many of us and I know from personal experience that it is easy to get discouraged when we are praying consistently  but still aren’t receiving clear answers; but this is when it is of the utmost importance that we stand on the faith that we have and remember that God is working everything out for our good and for His glory.

 God will not always give us direct answers when we want them or when we expect them; He is God and His ways are higher than ours. This can be tough to accept, but we have to understand that He is all-knowing, infinitely wise and extraordinarily loving. Because of how He loves us, He will answer our prayers in the way that will best benefit our souls. And since we know that He knows best, it is important that we listen to Him when He talks to us. 

The amazing thing about this is that God speaks to each of us in different ways. Some of my friends hear God’s voice in broad daylight while He mostly speaks to others when they are praying. God has spoken to me through various mediums. Songs, sermons, friends, prayer, books and even simply through my conscience.  On one occasion, the Holy Spirit grieved my heart and although silent, it was the loudest wake-up call I’ve ever heard and the only one I’ve ever felt. The only way that one can know how God speaks to them is to be prayerful. Prayer is how God knows that we are interested in hearing what He has to say. When we speak to Him, He speaks back. 

Through prayer, we develop a real relationship with God and as a result, He begins to commune with us more often and regularly. If we take the time to open this line of communication with Him through prayer, God will speak to us in more ways than we ever imagined.

For more from Britt B, check out her blog , thebeautifulashes.wordpress.com