Mark 11:24 (KJV) 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
The last two weeks we have been talking about the role choice plays in our ability to walk in the favor of God. When we use the term favor, we mean God’s ability to cause people to do for us or be favorably disposed towards what we need. This may be favor with a group of people or favor with just one key person. Either way, favor will enable us to do things and have things that we need for our own lives or for the work of the Kingdom of God.
In our study, we have seen that Israel was blessed and favored when they obeyed God’s voice and kept his commandments. From Deuteronomy 30 we see that God exhorts Israel to choose life. The way that they could choose life was to keep God’s commandments. Moses tells Israel that these commandments are in their hearts and in their mouths. This is not the law but relationship. This is the New Covenant that is prophesied in Jeremiah 31. It is the covenant you and I walk in as Christians.
We do not live under the law but we do live under the constraints of relationship. I have been married for more than 40 years. My wife and I do not have a list of “do’s and don’ts” written down. We simply know that in order to maintain relationship there are things we can do and things we cannot do. There are things my wife does not like and because I love her I do not do those things. There are things I like and because she loves me, she does them.
If we love God, we realize that there are things God wants from us and things he does not want. There are things that please him and things that do not please him. There are things he knows will hurt us and others that he knows will benefit us. This is not law this is relationship. Relationship is the place where we will find favor.
Our eternal condition is a matter of choice. We can choose to believe that the sacrifice of Jesus is for our sin or not. We can choose to yield to him as the Lord of our lives or not. This choice determines where and with whom we spend eternity. God will not violate your right to choose. This extends to rest of life as well.
God has filled his book with promises. These promises cover every important aspect of life.
2 Peter 1:3-4 (NKJV) 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
These promises come with two kinds of conditions. First, they come with the condition of relationship. They apply to those who are in covenant relationship with the Lord. In the New Covenant that means those who are born again. If you do not meet that requirement, the promises of God do not apply to you.
Second, many of them come with specific principles that must be applied in order to activate them. For instance Luke 6:38 assures us that God will cause what we need to come to us. However, to activate that promise we must first give of our substance. There are many such promises in the bible. Favor is a product of these promises.
This brings me to the point of today’s post. Mark 11:24 brings a question into the discussion that we must answer if we are going to choose. That question is, “What do you want?”
In this verse, Jesus gives us a powerful revelation that applies to the idea of choice. He tells is that it is what we desire that will come to us when we pray. If we do not know what we want, we will not choose to receive it. We will not fulfill the conditions because we will not know what they are. We will not be committed to do what it takes to obtain the prize because we do not know if we want the prize.
I have been in the ministry more than thirty years and I have learned that people will only do what they want to do. I am not only talking about selfishness or serving the flesh. I am talking about good things as well. When God gave us this right to choose, it was understood that you cannot choose what you do not want or what you do not understand.
Either we will allow the flesh to dominate our desires or we will yield our desires to the Lord. We can change what we want. We can choose to want what is right instead of only what is good for us. That is what Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed, “Not my will but thine be done.” He changed what he wanted so that it conformed to what God wanted. We can do that as well. We can choose to lay down what would be good for us and choose to want what would be good for others or for the Lord. However, we must do that in order to choose.
When I was first saved, I wanted to go to college and be a teacher. The Lord began to deal with me that I was called to ministry. I had no idea what that meant but I was quite sure I did not want to do it. I struggled with the Lord over this. I wanted to be a teacher. He wanted me to be a minster of the gospel. I had a small scholarship to go to college. He was telling me not to do that. I had to choose my own path or trust that God knew me better and change what I wanted to conform to his will. I had to make that choice. No one could make it for me.
I decided, with much wrestling, to choose God’s plan for my life. Once I made the choice, I was able to do the things necessary to walk the path the Lord laid before me. It has not always been easy. I have not always enjoyed the things I had to do. Nevertheless, once I made the choice I could deal with whatever was necessary.
What would have happened if I had chosen to walk in my will and not the Lords will? I really do not know. I am sure the Lord would have blessed me as best he could, but I would have missed my destiny. I am grateful that I never had to find out.
What do you want? This can apply to things we believe God for in life. I cannot have faith for something if I do not know what it is. I must know what I am praying for and have a promise to stand on. If I do, I will maintain my faith until I see the answer. There is a broader interpretation that I want to lay before you today.
Do we want to be real Christians or just live on the fringes of our relationship with God. Do we want to be all that God wants us to be or do we want to get as much as we can out of our Christianity. Do we want to serve God or the flesh? Do we want to please the Lord or just not get him too angry?
We must first make these choices then the rest will become clear. When Jesus chose the will of God in Gethsemane, that decision made most of his other choices for him. When you choose to put the Lord and your relationship with him first and foremost in your life, than most of the other choices will be automatic. You will choose to obey the Word of God. You will choose to submit to his will and to his ways. You will choose to obey his commandments. All of these things will be a given.
You must choose. What do you want out of life? Do you want to be a victim or a victor? Do you want the best or just good enough? It is up to you and all of heaven will back your choice.
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