“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us” - 1 John 5:14 (NIV)
Have you heard of something called the lottery curse! It goes like this. A couple that is leading a normal quiet life buys a lottery number and of course, like all, prays feverishly to win the jackpot. As fortune would have it their prayers are answered and theirs is that lucky gold number. Once announced the couple celebrates before cameras splashing champagne. They soon go out on a world tour cruise, enjoy a shopping spree, snapping up idyllic castles. Life seems so good. But few years down the road the couple has divorced and now struggling with debts.
This is what happened to Adrian and Gillian Bayford after winning Euro 148 million from a National lottery. Affairs and health problems from overweight soon followed. “Most of us imagine that all lottery winners live happily ever after, but that simply isn’t the reality for a lot of them” wrote one lottery magazine. An answer to prayer often leads to ruins.
It is not just lottery. Stories abound of life going down the day many individuals run into millions they once prayed for, only to drive them crazy. Who has not heard of famous artists who have ended their lives prematurely because of being hooked on a cocktail of drugs and alcohol? Isn’t this what happened to pop stars Michael Jackson and Prince? Fame and wealth they got; but happiness eluded them.
This is why the Lord’s Prayer gently teaches us to pray not so much as we wish but in accordance to His will. “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Mat 6:9-10). We might wish anything but probably that is not the best for us; we should let the Lord’s will be.
Once during a low moment, King David prayed, “Teach me to do your Will for you are my God, may your good spirit leave me on level ground” (Psalm 143:10). May this be our prayer that His will is done in our lives. After all, He has said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.. (Jeremiah 1:5).
Prayer for today: Lord Father God, creator of heaven and earth, today I submit to you all my desires that you bless me in accordance with your will!
Related upcoming events
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27/04/2024 - 28/04/2024 All day“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God” (Psalm 42:1).
In the wildlife, a common feature is predatory animals chasing after less ferocious ones, which on a bad day become good dinner. Through the savannah plains of Africa the antelope tends to suffer that fate. After a long chase from a mighty lion, cheetah or leopard; antelopes that survive tend to retreat to a fresh water spot. There they gladly refresh their quench with streams of water.
King David, must have been more familiar with deer, as there are more common in the Northern Hemisphere. For us in the tropics we can substitute the deer with our antelope, commonly chased by predators. After a long chase, of course all pant for pints of water.
The significance of this metaphor is that whenever we encounter any situation that puts us on a chase, where do we run to! Habakuk 3:19 says, “The Lord God give my strength. He helps me run fast like deer. He leads me safely on the mountains” (Habakuk 3:19).
Two things of note here. The Lord can make us run as fast as the fastest antelope being chased by a predator to a well of safety. And of course, as we run, we have that the well of God to end up to and refresh ourselves! This is why David wrote, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:11).
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today like the antelopes of the wildlife I run to you, to that well of life, which refreshes my soul, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
