2 Samuel 7:27
“For You, O LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, ‘I will build a house for you.’ Therefore Your servant has found the courage to offer this prayer to You.”
David has confidence to offer this prayer. God wants us to pray confidently. We are told many times to pray. James 4:2b says, "You do not have, because you do not ask."
There are conditions to God answering prayer. The next verse in James says, "And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures". Jesus said in John 6:33, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto." This verse implies that God will meet our needs as we follow Him. In verse 26 of the same chapter, Jesus says, "Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?"
I think of the Israelites in the wilderness. God guided them with the cloud by day and the fire by night. He provided manna. Deuteronomy 8:4 says, "Your clothing did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years." Looking more closely at the story, they did have needs. Instead of praying, they complained to Moses. So, it appears that God provides for many of our needs without asking, but there are other times He wants us to pray.
I've heard it said that God answers all prayers. The answers are yes, no and wait. All of this is based on what is best for us and others. We learn patience by waiting. When God answers our prayers it is in His own way and time. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time".
God's timing is wonderful. It can stress us out sometimes, as we have to wait. As we walk with Christ, He puts His plans in our hearts and minds. Philippians 2:13 says, "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." What a great scripture. We want to do what He wants to do. We need to trust His timing.
Matthew 7:7 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you." God puts His desire in our hearts. We ask for it. We look for opportunities to arise. When they do, we knock on the door. Sometimes they open, sometimes not. When it's His will and His timing, they open. We are to practice this, ask, seek, knock.
God's will enters our hearts as an idea or a desire. We ask for those things to be fulfilled. Opportunities arise, usually in ways we wouldn't have guessed. Sometimes we have to knock. If these are from God, they become the most fulfilling things. His will blesses us, Him and others.
Thank You, Lord, for the blessings You give.