Everyone who has children knows how it is like, when they have certain wishes or need something. It is normal for children to plead their parents again and again. Even if they don’t get everything they want, they don’t give up and expect their wishes to be granted. Children trust their parents and know that they need their help. As parents, we always want the best for our children. That is why we will not be able to fulfill all of their wishes, and we will also say no to some things.
Just as the children come to their mother and father with their requests and wishes, as children of God, we can come to our Father in Heaven – with faith, perseverance, and determination. We believe we have a loving Father and a good God who only has the best in mind for us. He loves to give us everything we need, what is good for us and serves us for the best.
“Ask God and he will give you! Search and you will find! Knock and the door will be opened for you! Because whoever asks receives. He who seeks finds. And if you knock, the door will be opened. Would any of you give your child a stone if he asks for a piece of bread? Or a snake when it asks for a fish? Despite all your wickedness, you humans know what is good for your children and give it to them. How much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him! ”Matthew 7: 7
So does that mean we can ask God for anything and He will give it to us? No – because God knows us much better than we do and knows what is good for us.
“Your father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him for anything” Matthew 6: 8
He has a good plan for our life. We can only see this plan in connection with God when we live with him in community and in a personal relationship. Without God we only pursue our own goals and desires, which often do not agree with God’s will at all.
“Why do you have so much fights and arguments? Doesn’t everything come from the fact that in you the passions and instincts fight for supremacy? You want everything and you will not get anything. You are full of envy and deadly hatred [1]; but you will not gain anything from it. Your quarrels and fights are of no use to you. As long as you do not ask God, you will not receive anything. And if you ask him, he won’t give you anything. Because you have evil intentions: your only concern is to fulfill your selfish desires. ”James 4: 1-3
We can ask ourselves the following questions: What am I asking for? What am I looking for? Who do I ask, who do I knock on? What doors does God want to open for me?
God wants to give us a new, pure heart. Jesus died for us so that we could live for him, for his glory. We are to search for God and His will, agree with it and inquire about His plan for our life and put aside our own selfish desires.
“First of all work for God’s kingdom and for his will to be done. Then he will provide you with everything else. ”Matthew 6:33
Our pride and ego, our endeavors to achieve everything by our own strength and effort, our thinking that we know ourself what is good for us, not to need any help – all this prevents us from living in the determination that God has for our life. The best we can do is to live in dependence on God, the Father, to believe in him, to trust and to know that he lives and works in us.
“I live, but no longer myself, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body in faith in the Son of God, who loved me and sacrificed himself for me. ”Galatians 2:20
“So if someone belongs to Christ, then he is a new person. What was before has passed, something completely new has begun. ”2 Corinthians 5:17
With that in mind, I can count on God to answer my prayers, believe that doors will open, and expect that I will find what I am looking for.
“But we know that all things serve for the best of those who love God.” Romans 8:28