Day Thirteen: How to get what you want?

Scripture: Matthew 21:18-22

Principle: Faith moves mountains.

The vast possibilities of prayer are too great to spend just 21 days pondering. Many of us will salivate at these possibilities because we see it as a way to get everything we want. But while pondering the possibilities, we must not forget our sinful natures. Not everything we want is pure or within God’s will for us. If our desire doesn’t fall within those boundaries, then neither faith nor prayer will get us the thing we want. However, if it does fall within those boundaries, then how do we go about getting them?

A.W. Tozer proposes that our desires fit into three categories.

  1. The first is those things which we can obtain on our own. There are certain things we want which, for most of us, are well within our reach to obtain. A good grade can be obtained by studying. The purchase of a home or car is again obtainable through working and saving. No divine help is necessary.
  2. The second category, which is where most of our wants belong, are the things which require divine help. Our work alone is not enough. Our spiritual growth is in this category. Growing in our faith, knowledge of God, or holiness cannot be done without God’s assistance. To win over a bad habit or addiction requires us to change what we think about, how we act, breaking old relationships and creating new ones. It requires determination, but these things alone are not enough. It requires a change of heart which can only be done by God who promises to complete the work he started. Work for change and pray for God to keep His promise.
  3. The third category of desire are those things which are impossible for us to obtain. The father’s desire to see his boy healed falls into this category. About this category Tozer says:

Some things are altogether out of the sphere of possibility for us, and yet altogether within God’s gracious will for us. What to do? Prayer is the immediate answer. God has planned that we should go to Him for impossibilities when those impossibilities are a part of His eternal will for our highest good. Under such circumstances we should press our petitions upon Him with all the boldness and ardor of an obedient and trusting child. God loves such praying and has given every reason for us to believe that He will hear our prayer and in due time send the answer.26

Application: Continue to ponder what’s possible through prayer. What could God accomplish through your prayers? Maybe, dare we dream, He would even send a revival to our nation, if only we would pray. Pray for something impossible today.

26  A. W. Tozer and W. L. Seaver, Prayer: Communing with God in Everything–Collected Insights from A. W. Tozer (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2016).