Scriptural Foundation:
Isaiah 43:26 English Standard Version (ESV)
Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
Psalm 37:4-6 English Standard Version (ESV)
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
Hebrews 11:6 English Standard Version (ESV)
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Reflection:
Growing up, I remember that my father was a very busy man. In order for him to consider my request for something, I had to prepare my argument. It annoyed me that I had to approach him like that, but at the same time it really had me think through decisions that I was considering. Not all my request made it to my “board room” discussions with my father, but the ones that did more often than not I was granted permission.
The answer to the title is not “because I am a nice person” or that “I try my best”. Our Father God is a purposeful and succinct being. There are a lot of dependencies in the Word of God. You have to act on the Word of God, for our Heavenly Father to respond to our request. If it were easy then everyone would be doing it, however the walk of a Believer is very challenging. I remember as a newly saved Christian, still looking through the lens of a Roman Catholic I learned that all good people don’t go to heaven. There is only one way there and that is through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. However that is not where our story ends, until we get to Heaven we will be bouncing back and forth between boot camp(the messages we receive at church) to combat (going back to our mission field to share the good news).
After years of being in the ministry, I have seen a lot of good people come and go. Let me rephrase that, I lot of great people come and go. When it happens, the Holy Spirit brings to my remembrance the story of the rich young man (Matthew 19:16-22). He did everything he knew how to do since he was young…i.e great person. However when the Lord asked him to give up everything he possessed – But when the young man heard this, he went away sad (grieved and in much distress), for he had great possessions. We think by being a good person, we can keep all our negative thought processes and retaliatory actions separate and the Lord will bless our hearts desire. The Bible says that the Lord is a jealous lover. He wants to be a part of every area of your life. Then and only then after proving your case through scripture, will He grant your requests. It is a high standard, but not an impossible standard with the help of the Holy Ghost.
Seeking Revelation:
Grab your notebook:
- What requests that you feel have been overlooked by the Lord?
- Study out in the Word of God for the requirements/promises for your request.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any hindrances on your end that may be causing the delay. In some cases, you mail here the dreaded four letter word…wait. Come to peace with the response and ask the Lord what you should be doing while you wait for your manifestation.