Motives

I am reading the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan. If you are unfamiliar with it, the focus is on the Holy Spirit.... very good and solid book.

So he is talking this morning about asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit.. and we are to do that.. but then he asks WHY do you want to be filled? Seems like a dumb question in a way, but it isn't. The pat answer would be "because" God tells us to.. and that is not a bad reason.. but his point was are we wanting an infilling because we love the Lord and the church and we want to serve and minister through His power OR are we looking forward to His doing something through us and then folks saying "Wow.. look at what she did"... that would be the wrong heart motive.. and based on James 4:3 ("When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motive") we won't get the infilling if we have that as our motive. 

So this made me think of other things I have prayed for and am praying for.. especially where I am not seeing answers yet. NOW I have to quickly say that just because God hasn't answered your prayer does NOT mean you motive was/is wrong.  Remember that He does what is best for you... for the person or situation for which you are praying.. and ultimately for His Kingdom.

But still.. it is an interesting exercise to walk through prayer requests and really truly honestly look at WHY you are asking.  I mean I have asked for healing in the past.. earthly healing.. but if that person is a Christian, is that really the best for them? Doesn't the word say To live is Christ, to die is gain? NOT that I am saying we need to pray for folks to die!  When it comes to healing prayers, I tend to pour out my heart and tell God what I want and why, but then I also add (and I pray for it to be a genuine desire) that no matter what HIS will is done and He is glorified even if that means the healing is to be a heavenly one (for believers).  

It is easy to see wrong motives behind some prayers.. especially those for material things.. money.. or things we know we should not have. Again!  I am not saying don't pray for money or material things, but look at your motive. 11 or 12 years ago I prayed for a mini-van... I had 2 kids and they had friends... my mom travelled with us.. it just made sense ... at the time I had a 4 door Honda Accord.. not the best for hauling folks. But thankfully the Spirit gave me the right words and attitude about the prayer.. Lord, I think I need a van and here is why... IF you want me to have this then Lord please provide the van and the means to pay for it so we do not add debt to our lives.  A month or so later we had that van and had the funds to buy it out right.  So no doubt God does care about the material things in life. I still have that van and it would be so easy to pray for something new... something smaller and more economical.. more fun and cute to drive... but there is no way my motive would be right, because I can assure you that the only reason I would be asking is because I want it.. not because there is a need.  Another example... let's say I pray for a raise for my husband or a job that pays more money... or to get out of debt... and my thought is how much easier life will be.... we can finally afford this and that and the other... Wait! Is that a right motive? I am thinking no. I am praying for our family to get out of debt.. we have been working on it for some time (takes lots longer to pay it off than run it up!) so I looked a lot at this one today and the thing that hit me is I need to be out of debt because God tells us not to owe another... because it is a hindrance to me at times, a burden that causes me to sin (mostly worry).. and because we would then be able to do MORE financially for the kingdom of God NOT so we could then buy and do more stuff for us.

It isn't so much that you can or cannot ask for this or that.. it is all about the Motives behind the asking.  And it is VERY easy to convince ourselves that our motives are right when the thing we ask for is a good thing, but that may not always be true.

SO as you are praying.. for yourself and others.. ask God to show you your motives AND to forgive you when they are wrong and to give you right motives and the right things to pray,