Of Freedom, Country and Vaccination

[fifteenth]

A few thoughts:

1) Jesus tells us not to "babble on" with many words in prayer because our Father knows our needs before we ask. BECAUSE of that he then gives us the Lord's prayer, which teaches us to demand God's will and has nothing about our will/desires within it. 

2) Yes, God wants us to ask/beg/seek/pray...but not by bringing our "wants" to the table, but by asking, begging, seeking, and praying for HIS will. 

3) Not only "might" God intervene, he WILL intervene if we ask, beg, seek "rightly" (as James 4:3 puts it). Hence Jesus can say "Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give to you." No "might"...he WILL give it, when we ask rightly, when we are asking and seeking HIS will and not our own. Hence Elijah, a man just like us, can pray for no rain and it stops for 3.5 years and then he prays again and it rains. Asking in "Jesus's name" is not adding that phrase to our prayers, but asking in the image and pattern of Jesus, bearing his name and identity in our lives and approach.


I am not suggesting we cannot be honest about our wants before the Father (shoot, Jesus was in the Garden!) but we need to immediately pivot out of those wants to demand God's will. And as we see, God's will is the way of the cross which is the exact opposite of having "my desires fulfilled."

That's great, Kam. Love it. Just don't want people to be hesitant to take needs to our Father because of the critique that some think of God as Santa Clause. 

You touched on it a bit, I think there is a fun discussion to be had about the co-working of God and human(s), and how prayer can work in that context. "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" appears to be something that he wants us to participate in through prayer AND action.