Expect God to Answer Your Prayers
By Rick Warren
“If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you . . . If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.” James 1:5-8 (TLB)
God wants to direct you in life, but two things need to line up: You need to ask him for help, and you need to ask with the right attitude. You need to ask him in faith, trusting him to provide the answer.
The Living Bible paraphrases James 1:5-8 this way: “If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you . . . If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.”
Have you ever asked God for something while not expecting to get it? God works in your life according to faith. Living by faith means you expect God to answer your prayers.
You expect him to provide the solution and keep his promises. You expect that he wants to accomplish his will through you. And you expect him to provide everything you need to do that.
So often we say, “God, please guide me!” and we walk away without waiting for guidance. We just immediately get to work on the problem. We may say that we want God to give us wisdom and help us make the right decision, but we don’t really expect him to. We think it all depends on us.
But God has promised to give you wisdom—if you wait for it. Wisdom is seeing life from God’s point of view. Wisdom is the ability to make decisions the way God makes decisions.
Think about this: God never makes a bad decision. He never makes a mistake. He says if you trust him and listen to him, he will guide you. But you must first ask in faith.
No matter how you feel and no matter what your life looks like, God is for you and not against you. He is a good God, and you can be confident he is working for your good. You can trust him with your future because he knows better than you do what is best for you.
When this truth becomes the foundation of your prayers, then your prayers will become powerful and passionate and purposeful.
So, what do you want to see God do in your life? What big things do you want to ask of him, believing in his good purpose for you? With God’s goodness as your foundation, what do you expectantly hope he will accomplish through you?
Ask him for it in faith!
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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