Praying For rESULTS Or RESOLVE In Life

​1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
 
Everyone who has a functional and vibrant relationship with Jesus knows that the life of a believer MUST consist of prayer in every way and in all seasons. When we are in pain we need to pray. When we experience joy in life we should pray. It is not always an easy thing to do when you are in the struggles of life but it doesn’t change the fact that the Bible is replete with examples of prayer in all situations.
 
I want to challenge you with a thought about prayer. Prayer is not about us CHANGING the heart of God. It is about us GETTING the heart of God.
I think many times we pray with the intent of alerting God to something that he doesn’t already know or we are making him do something he would normally not do.  We need to be very careful about the intentions of our heart and the words we pray with our mouths. Of course the Bible also talks about reminding him of his promises and He wants us to share what we feel like are our needs with him, but with the realization that those prayers are good for US to hear come out of our mouths and not something that is going to manipulate or improve on what He already has for us.

Think of prayer as asking God for things you already know He can do and then trusting that the outcome is based on His love for you AND that He can see farther than we can down the road of your life.

When we pray harder for a RESULT than for RESOLVE in situations, we are set ourselves up for disappointment and ultimately not truly being happy in life. When we understand that God has a BETTER (and not just different) plan for our lives, we will pray prayers of surrender to his will and then enjoy the ride!