Are you asking with the right motives?

It is going to seem strange that I am writing a blog post about blogging but after you read it you may understand why I did this.  I have been hesitant to begin this blog because I feel like everyone has a blog these days and its not necessarily for the best reasons.  It is hard not to wonder if there lays an ulterior motive to blogging – becoming famous.  I want to let you know that when I write a post it is not because I think people care so much about my personal life they just can’t wait to hear more.  This is not a platform for me to glorify myself, this is a platform for me to glorify my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  The reason I write a post is because God prompts me to do so.  I don’t think I’m any better or any holier than the rest of you.  Every person’s walk with Christ has its own path.  I am sharing parts of mine because if it touches one person, or encourages one more brother or sister in Christ, it is worth it.  We are commanded to love one another… serve one another… encourage each other… this is a way I can do that for people I may not even really know. 

This weekend I encountered a feeling that I haven’t had in a long time; I wasn’t trusting God.  Often in my life, I tell my friends and family members that God’s timing is everything.  Someone once said, “God’s timing is perfect, its never late and its never early.”  My dad always reminds me of that.  

It’s easy to tell other people that but what about when it comes to my own life? Right now I am waiting, not so patiently, to see if God will grant a prayer request that I have.  In church this morning God challenged me.  He said, “Dana, even if I don’t give you what you are asking for, am I good enough for you?  If I am all you get, is that enough?” 

On earth we see so many things that we want or think we need.  Imagine how that makes God feel.  If only I got that car, I’d be fulfilled.  If only I got a new job, life would be better.  If only we had a baby, we’d be happier.  If only we had more money, we’d be able to do so much more.  If I worked with all Christians it’d be so much easier to live a Godly life, etc.  You get what I’m saying. 

Right now I am guilty of saying to God, “Hey, thanks for dying on the cross and all but I really think I need a little something more.  Could you do that for me? And fast? Thanks!”  Wow.  I’m a jerk.  I live in such a culture of immediacy that I expect God to work on that pace.  Who the heck am I to tell HIM when to do something and am I really asking with the right heart?   

James 4:1-3 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you?  Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  You want something but don’t get it.  You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want.  You quarrel and fight.  You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

I challenge you to look at the reasons behind your prayer requests.  Seek God and ask him to do HIS will in your life.  Submit your requests to him with a humble heart and remember that even if he doesn’t grant your request right away, he still hears you.

For those of you that have been waiting for something for a long time, the truth is that nothing will be more fulfilling than a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Absolutely nothing on this earth will compare.