Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Abide: Ask

In John 15, Jesus says:
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

4. When you abide, you ask and God moves.

James 4:3 (NASB) says:
3You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

I was looking up verse 2 which says, "You do not have because you do not ask." And this is a problem with me, for sure. I don't ask...until it's really, really big. And often, when I do ask, it's because I have the wrong motives. Either way, I don't have. And this right here, this issue, this promise is where I get hung up over and over. God is good. I want what God has for me. I ask for His direction.
But...I hold something back. I want the good things for sure. But do I really want to take the steps to get there? Especially when they are unclear?

Today I'm saying I do. Father, I want your will for my life. I want to abide in you, to be close to you, to fulfill my purpose in you. Help me abide in you daily, to see where you are working and understand my part and then give me the courage to pursue it. Help me to ask with the right motives for the blessings that I know that you have for me and to maintain the right heart so that I can be used by you.