We need to seek the Lord to listen to what He has to say!
Num 22:12 God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
Still, listening to what the Lord has to say does not mean you are going to like what He says!!
Often I have and have also seen where others tell the Lord that they want "this", and if He does not answer it like the want then they are upset with Him. Indeed, if we pick up a message that we do not want we usually just tend to ignore it and keep on going the way we want. That can be dangerous.
Num 22:23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way.
So often I hear Christians telling other Christians to pray for what they want. That is ok, but you had then better listen to what He has to say to you!
Balaam was not in trouble with the Lord for asking Him a question, but he was in trouble and indeed the angel of the Lord was standing in the road with His sword in hand, because Balaam did not like the answer and so still went about his own way. You don't want some donkey at church getting a word from the Lord for you, do you?
I see this problem in myself, and so I can often see it in other people too. Let me give a couple of big examples, but we do this with the small little things in our life too.
Example 1:
I was are retail manager when the Lord came into my life. I had hired a Christian man as a part time employee. He was into "name it and claim it", meaning that He felt that we just need to tell God what we want and He will give it to us. God can to that, but that is making you His lord and not Him your Lord. So the Lord will probably find a way to show that to you. Such was the case with this man.
The man wanted a big white new truck. Yet he had a wife and a baby and also only wanted to work part time. That is what he wanted to started naming it and claiming it to the Lord. So the Lord set it all up for him. The man praise God for getting him the truck, the wife, the child, and the part time job. But of course the man wound up owing lots of money, living in a very small and poor place, and bugged me for more hours when the big car payment was due, then wanting time off when it was due. He was a pain to have as an employee. The Christian guy was stressing out often, depending on his wife and hear full time job to pay rent and take care of the baby. I don't think the marriage was all it should have been.
Yeah, you can name it and claim it, or you can ask the Lord what the wise thing to do is and listen. The Lord reproves those He loves, so we can hold out for His reproof or go straight after His best advice and wisdom. That means listening to Him.
Example: 2
I was in a prayer ministry when a lady came into us for prayer. The lady's husband had left her with a couple of children and a big house. She came in for help praying to the Lord to give her that house so she and the kids would not have to move. She had a few friends who had already offered to help her with another place, but she wanted to keep the big house.
Now as she was telling us what she wanted prayer for the Lord was talking to me, "Karl, do you think it is wise for her to keep that big house. A big house takes a lot of work and money?"
"So Lord, how do you want me to handle this?", I asked the Lord
He told me to ask her about praying in the Spirit (tongues). I was thinking that she didn't so I might need to pray for the gift of tongues for her. But as went to ask her I found out that she did have the gift but that she wasn't using it. So I explained that we don't always know the best thing to pray for, so tell the Lord what you want but want his will to be done in your life. And perhaps a good way to do that is to use that gift of praying in the Spirit to pray what He wants prayed for in your life.
Now I don't know what wound up happening. But if we are going to tell the Lord what we want, and we should, we still need to pray for His will to be done. If you are having trouble hearing what He has to say on a certain important issue in your life (and that can happen), then I would suggest using some method to get prayer according to His will. Praying in tongues is a good way, but if not that then perhaps you ask people you know to talk to the Lord and ask them to pray according to what the Lord tells them. And the persons I know best at that are the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They will intercede for you.
Num 22:12 God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”
Still, listening to what the Lord has to say does not mean you are going to like what He says!!
Often I have and have also seen where others tell the Lord that they want "this", and if He does not answer it like the want then they are upset with Him. Indeed, if we pick up a message that we do not want we usually just tend to ignore it and keep on going the way we want. That can be dangerous.
Num 22:23 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; but Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back into the way.
So often I hear Christians telling other Christians to pray for what they want. That is ok, but you had then better listen to what He has to say to you!
Balaam was not in trouble with the Lord for asking Him a question, but he was in trouble and indeed the angel of the Lord was standing in the road with His sword in hand, because Balaam did not like the answer and so still went about his own way. You don't want some donkey at church getting a word from the Lord for you, do you?
I see this problem in myself, and so I can often see it in other people too. Let me give a couple of big examples, but we do this with the small little things in our life too.
Example 1:
I was are retail manager when the Lord came into my life. I had hired a Christian man as a part time employee. He was into "name it and claim it", meaning that He felt that we just need to tell God what we want and He will give it to us. God can to that, but that is making you His lord and not Him your Lord. So the Lord will probably find a way to show that to you. Such was the case with this man.
The man wanted a big white new truck. Yet he had a wife and a baby and also only wanted to work part time. That is what he wanted to started naming it and claiming it to the Lord. So the Lord set it all up for him. The man praise God for getting him the truck, the wife, the child, and the part time job. But of course the man wound up owing lots of money, living in a very small and poor place, and bugged me for more hours when the big car payment was due, then wanting time off when it was due. He was a pain to have as an employee. The Christian guy was stressing out often, depending on his wife and hear full time job to pay rent and take care of the baby. I don't think the marriage was all it should have been.
Yeah, you can name it and claim it, or you can ask the Lord what the wise thing to do is and listen. The Lord reproves those He loves, so we can hold out for His reproof or go straight after His best advice and wisdom. That means listening to Him.
Example: 2
I was in a prayer ministry when a lady came into us for prayer. The lady's husband had left her with a couple of children and a big house. She came in for help praying to the Lord to give her that house so she and the kids would not have to move. She had a few friends who had already offered to help her with another place, but she wanted to keep the big house.
Now as she was telling us what she wanted prayer for the Lord was talking to me, "Karl, do you think it is wise for her to keep that big house. A big house takes a lot of work and money?"
"So Lord, how do you want me to handle this?", I asked the Lord
He told me to ask her about praying in the Spirit (tongues). I was thinking that she didn't so I might need to pray for the gift of tongues for her. But as went to ask her I found out that she did have the gift but that she wasn't using it. So I explained that we don't always know the best thing to pray for, so tell the Lord what you want but want his will to be done in your life. And perhaps a good way to do that is to use that gift of praying in the Spirit to pray what He wants prayed for in your life.
Now I don't know what wound up happening. But if we are going to tell the Lord what we want, and we should, we still need to pray for His will to be done. If you are having trouble hearing what He has to say on a certain important issue in your life (and that can happen), then I would suggest using some method to get prayer according to His will. Praying in tongues is a good way, but if not that then perhaps you ask people you know to talk to the Lord and ask them to pray according to what the Lord tells them. And the persons I know best at that are the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. They will intercede for you.
