www.bible.com/1713/isa.40.31.csb
If I only had enough faith. Then I would be as strong as … who? Whose faith do you envy? Whose faith do you look upon as better than yours? I’ve seen a lot of people who say they have great faith, but much of it is misplaced. I was called a few years ago to the ER where a family stood waiting. When I arrived, they promptly asked me to raise the dead. Their loved one had just passed and they expected this particular representative of God to raise their deceased loved one. I think they were of the delusion that all one needs to do is ask, and God will give whatever you ask for for, if you ask for it in faith. Sadly, neither my prayers nor theirs were enough to raise the dead that day.
There is a popular notion in our area that faith merely needs to be claimed, merely apprehended by a word of faith and it will become reality. It is a poor understanding of God’s purpose. As Han Solo once said, “That’s not how the Force works.” That’s not how faith works either.
If we have have a request of God, we make it known to Him. We lift it up in prayer. We can pray for as often as we like. He is not obligated to satisfy that which does not fit into His will. His chief goal is that all come to the knowledge of the truth. How does your prayer fit into that? Not every prayer will fit. Some have to be “No” and others may be “wait.” But none will be “Yes sir, right away sir.” God is not at our beck and call. We ought to be at His, and He just might be more likely to answer if we are.
In fact this verse and it surrounding passage fees more like the latter. If we are serving God in all that we do and say, our will is more like His. And the things we ask for are more in line with what He wants, and He is more likely to answer as we ask. Faith is just asking God for stuff when you want. It is living your life as He wants, so that as you are carrying out His will, He is more likely to supply you with the strength you need to carry it out.
Lord, help me today to live my life according to Your will. Help me recognize in my own life those things I need to be rid of so that I can fill those places with You. Lord I am but human. I can’t see and know all things as You do. Help me Lord each day to make my life more in line with Your blessed will do that I will have that strength to carry it out. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.
Meritt Musings 