Psalm 81:1-16 say's,
Have you been praying for God to meet your need, but still have heard no answer? What is going on? Could it be that God is not faithful, or could it be that we are not where we need to be to receive His blessing? God shares all of the blessings He was will to give Israel in the aboe passage, but something is hindering His blessing from reaching them. Starting in verse 11 we see that,1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song and strike the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the lute.
3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
At the full moon, on our solemn feast day.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
A law of the God of Jacob.
5 This He established in Joseph as a testimony,
When He went throughout the land of Egypt,
Where I heard a language I did not understand.
6 “I removed his shoulder from the burden;
His hands were freed from the baskets.
7 You called in trouble, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 “Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you!
O Israel, if you will listen to Me!
9 There shall be no foreign god among you;
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God,
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But My people would not heed My voice,
And Israel would have none of Me.
12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
13 “Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD would pretend submission to Him,
But their fate would endure forever.
16 He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat;And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you."
"My people would not heed My voice"Sometimes prayers go unanswered because we're not listening to God.
"Israel would have none of Me"Sometimes prayers go unanswered because we don't even acknowledge God in our life.
"So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels"Sometimes prayers go unanswered because we are stubborn and do our own thing instead of seek God's will. Because of unbelief we don't truly believe that God will answer our requests. We then try to fix things on our own, or go in a direction that seems right to us instead of God's direction.
The Israelites turned away from God and His plan numerous times, but He rescued them over and over. God has a different purpose for each of us, so should we expect to always receive the same blessings that everyone else does? Whatever God's plan is for your life you can rest assured that it is amazing, but sometimes we focus so much on doing for ourselves that we can't hear His voice. We stop going to Church where we hear His voice, we stop reading His word, we stop praying to Him, then before we know it we are in the situation like verse 11 where he say's, "they would have none of me" - What is the answer then?
We need all of Him!
But to get there He needs all of us!
Once we are in the right fellowship with Him we will find we are seeking Him, and not just seeking what blessings He will give us. We are seeking His heart and not His hand, but if we capture His heart, then He will give His us His hand.
I know as an earthly father when my kids were obedient and loving to me it captured my heart, and at these times I wanted to do something for them for it brought me joy to reward them, but when they were disobedient to me and upset me, giving them something was the farthest thing from my mind. If we, as earthly parents are like this, then what makes us think God is any different? His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are Higher than ours, and we were created in His image. How much more of a loving Father is He then to us?
James 4:2 say's,
"You do not have because you do not ask"We need to be in the right relationship with God first, but then the next step is to ask! God already knows our needs before we ask Him, but He wants us to communicate with Him, so ask! We need to continually ask too and not give up. If we continually ask God for something but don't expect a response, it's as if we don't trust Him.So we expect Him to answer our request and trust Him for the provision.
When we pray we need to be specific too, and anticipate His answer, but next comes the hardest part. We need to be patient! God will give you an answer, but it may not always be the answer you wanted to hear. If your desire doesn't fit His plan for your life then He will real this to you. It may be that He will then show you something better to request of Him.
If you ask the Lord to meet your specific needs and wants, then patiently wait upon Him, and allow Him to make it happen in His timing then He will come through for you, but you must be in a place to receive the blessing. God does not reward disobedience.
God has a plan for every life. These plans may vary, but He loves no one more than the other. If we are not careful we can let the devil distract us by looking at other people being blessed as we are trying to patiently wait for our blessing. It is important to remember that God is sovereign and this means He is in control, so He can see what is beyond each horizon in your life, and He wants what is best for you. What is best for one person may not be what is best for another, but the important thing is to wait upon Him and trust in Him.
Ephesians 3:20 say's,
Remember that He is the power that works within us, and by Him we can do all things. Make sure you are seeking Him and His kingdom first, and He will add all other things to you.Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us
God bless!
