The will of a genie is to fulfill the wishes of their human masters regardless if the intent is pure or evil. Usually, genies are limited to granting their masters a total of 3 wishes. Yet we have seen across media narratives that how we ask determines the actual outcome those wishes will manifest in reality.
Despite this essay’s ambitious title, God is not a genie. In reality, the relationship between mortal and immortal is reversed. Man is designed to do God’s will rather than God doing the will of man. When it is so, God grants us the desires of our hearts as they align with His purpose for our life.
If God were a genie granting us our most sinful desires, the world would die faster than expected as the Lord Jesus commented about the end: “there would be no flesh saved”(Matt. 24:22).
But the genie isn’t God. His name is Lucifer, or more notably, Satan.
When the devil tempted Jesus, briefly, we see the devil assume that Jesus would give in to the lust of the flesh. But Satan was not dealing with a regular Joe Schmoo who would easily succumb to such temptations.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Matthew 4:8-9)
The Lord Jesus defended against this offer using scripture to reject the fallen cherub’s taunts. But you see how we are all tempted of our greatest desires by the wilds of Satan who parades as an angel of light.
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So how is mankind tasked with approaching God today? Are there pre-requisites when we ask God for anything through our prayers or cry out for him?
The answer to this is yes. And one of the best illustrations is told through one of the Bible’s wealthiest characters.
In the book of 2 Chronicles, chapter 1, verse 7, God appears to Solomon, asking, “What Shall I give thee?” When God appears, usually in the form of the Lord, there is a command or instructions given to God’s faithful for His Will to be carried out.
However, not so in this matter. In 1 Chronicles 28:6-7, God tells David His plans for Solomon: “he will use Solomon to build his house and courts, choosing him as a son and he (God) will be a father to him.” We see that this is more of a prophecy rather than a command.
But first, The Most High needed to measure Solomon’s heart to see if he was ready for God’s commitment because “every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts”(Proverbs 21:2).
God continuously checks our heart thermostat, measuring if we’re hot or cold for Him. Solomon’s answer to “What Shall I give thee?” demonstrated Solomon’s selflessness and strong desire to please the Lord, placing God’s will above his own:
8 And Solomon said unto God, “Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead. 9 Now, O LORD God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?” 11 And God said to Solomon, “Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: 12 Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like”(KJV 2 Chronicles 1:8-12).
Solomon had a deep concern for God and his people, asking the Lord for wisdom and knowledge, not for self-service, but God’s will. Solomon did not ask amiss. God was searching Solomon’s heart and testing him. Had Solomon asked for personal pleasures, maybe God would’ve granted them to fulfill His Word to Solomon, but Solomon would not have been fit to rule in place as God had purposed for him.
Ask and Maybe, Just Maybe, Ye Shall Receive
Matthew 22:34-40 (KJV) contains the event where a lawyer asked Jesus, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” to which Jesus responds, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
In James 1:5-8, it states that when we ask God of anything, it must be in confidence and faith, asking not to fulfill the desires of the flesh but God’s Word: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts” (James 4:3). When man aims to indulge in his hedonistic nature, his reasons for asking will always be driven by his wicked imagination, for the imagination is forever of evil thoughts (Genesis 6:5). These New Testament scriptures support the idea that God’s expectations and motives are consistent, never changing in any period (Hebrews 13:8).
What does this mean for you? The Bible tells us in Matthew 24:12 that the love of man will “wax cold” as wickedness grows and generations become more Godless, seeing themselves as gods. Many will become lovers of themselves (2 Timothy 3:2), gladly exchanging the truth for convenient lies.
In a 2011 video titled “The Importance of Authentic Communication,” Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s current Chief Operating Officer at the time of this writing, quotes an MIT professor by the name of Fred Kofman who commits to a startling ideology:
“And what Fred says, and I really believe this is true, is it starts from the fundamental understanding that there is no truth. There’s my truth, there’s your truth, that everything is subjective.”
This line of thinking proves the Bible correct as humanity continues to worship the creation (mankind, man-made philosophies, etc.) over the Creator with a lack of understanding that without God, there is no truth. We see how powerful our wicked imagination is as one person has influenced an entire generation to spout dangerous rhetoric.
When we believe in only our “own truth,” a vain imagination conceived from the darkness of our mind, we could never go to Jesus Christ and ask anything in faith because it won’t exist. When God is limited to comforting fantasies which fuel our behavior without having the external objective truth outside ourselves, it is impossible to ask in faith.
That being the case, how and why we ask the Lord of things is more important than “the what” as it reflects where our intent is presently focused. Today, having the Lord Jesus Christ working on the inside of us plays a huge part in how we approach God. The Lord Jesus provides us with His Holy Ghost which intercedes on our behalf that no man can put into words (Romans 8:26-27). We have something greater than Solomon himself did not possess.
In James 4:2, it says: “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”
As a public school teacher, I see this firsthand with students. They would rather do something wrong at the expense of procedures and expectations to get what they want instead of asking.
Here’s a very mild example:
Student sneaks and eats candy.
Teacher catches student: why are you eating candy? There’s no eating in the classroom.
Student: I was hungry
Teacher: Why did you not ask?
Student: I was afraid and knew what your answer was going to be.
Teacher: If you would have asked me correctly, we would have worked something out so that you fulfilled the expectations and ate the food you sought.
The classroom procedures and expectations are set to maintain peace and structure for the benefit of all students during their class time. These “laws” are not created to satisfy some silly tyrannical urge to imprison students in boredom away from fun (many pupils would like to think so).
However, they are to protect students from themselves while fulfilling the bigger picture. Students will chew gum, and spit it on the floor causing increasing the probability of a possible accident or very least, damage their footwear. They usually are not thinking about the next person.
Globally, we witness crimes committed by people who succumb to their emotionalism seeking to soothe the anguish of their flesh instead of avoiding angering God. It’s self-service in the highest form as we pedestalize temporary feelings over God’s desire for us not to sin. Yet if we learn how to strive for the kingdom of heaven, then all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33).
When we ask the Lord Jesus of anything, we must examine what we’re asking. Our request reflects where our hearts (subconscious mind) is focused. When we are experiencing chaos, did our selfishness leads us to these ruins?
God Does Not Hear the Prayers of Sinners
John 9:31 states: “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.”
You may be reading this scripture feeling a sense of discouragement. However, this should not be so. If you are learning how to make your requests align with the will of Jesus Christ, nothing will separate your prayers to the Lord.
Except sin. A husband, for example, not treating his wife as according to God’s ordinance, honoring her, not making her look like a fool, will have his prayers hindered.
Gotquestions.org gave a valid explanation regarding God showing compassion to the sinner:
Some Scriptures describe God hearing and answering the prayers of unbelievers. In most of these cases, prayer was involved. In one or two, God responded to the cry of the heart (it is not stated whether that cry was directed toward God). In some of these cases, the prayer seems to be combined with repentance. But in other cases, the prayer was simply for an earthly need or blessing, and God responded either out of compassion or in response to the genuine seeking or the faith of the person.
In Mark 7:24–30, we see the situation where Jesus cast the demon out of the woman’s daughter. Also in (Genesis 21:14-19) Hagar asked God to protect her son Ishmael. God not only protected Ishmael, God blessed him exceedingly.
As with Solomon, God answered the prayers of those who genuinely wanted to fulfull his will and not their own selfish ambition.
When I went to the Lord for a better body, I knew deep in my heart I wanted a better look to attract women causing me to fall more into sin. It wasn’t to fulfill God’s will of offering myself as a living sacrifice to give my time and energy to those who need work done, etc. I was not open to being used for anyone’s purpose other than my own.
Unbelief is a dreaded spell people are under today. They fight vehemently to defend why there is no God and how God is not able. Jesus, when returning to Nazareth to heal and help his hometown, could not do so because of the people’s unbelief (Matt. 13:8). The natives could not overcome their bias toward Jesus as a “carpenter’s son” to witness and take advantage of his awesome power.
Unbelief is deadly regarding our interactions with God in Jesus Christ. Many are being encouraged to believe in their own strength today, but to what end will this lead?
When an unbeliever comes to God, chances are they are coming with doubt, fears, selfishness, and other hindering factors. They have their own agenda and ulterior motives that do not involve God at all. As James mentioned, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
And that is exactly what happens to the sinner when he prays to God.
Closing
If you have prayed for something, but did not receive it, why is that? Were your prayers in alignment with His Word? Do you know enough of His of Word to rightly pray? Are your wants in conflict with what He speaks? For example, are you asking for riches to sit on a beach and do nothing when such a request is in direct conflict of his Word regarding hard work and the love of money?
Are you asking for personal security for your family to stay safe only to be isolated from the world? Not bothering anybody sounds noble, but again is in direct conflict with His Word. The Lord Jesus calls us to make disciples of all nations being amongst the unsaved in order to be used so others can receive Christ.
It’s time to do an “ask audit.” When you are approaching God for something, ask yourself “why am I asking this? Is what I’m asking in direct opposition of Gods decrees and laws?
Food for thought. But let’s stop rubbing our Bibles thinking God, in the form of Kazam, will emerge. Can you dig it, man?
This writer takes you on a deep journey through the Word of God and helps you to process through specific issues that may be stumbling blocks in your relationship with God. The questions that he poses are questions that we all have had to grapple with in our hearts. He brings forth truth straight from the Word of God and after reading his work you are left with no excuses.
@IsGodForOrAgainstMe,
Your friend, Johnathan Favors felt I should read and share my views with you and sent me the link. For the most part I agree with your presentations.
Isaiah 45:7 has God saying “he made darkness and created light, makes peace and created evil, I the Lord do all these things.” So with God did everything to provide a means to “Educate” all “Lifeforces” for the law of “Karma,” also called “Reaping and Sowing,” to allow every individual lifeforce to experience everything every other lifeforce has and/or will.
The sory of Solomon is an example, a “Prophetic Type” and maybe the same lifeforce of the Branch Christ revealed in Revelation 5:5-12. Notice the Branch appears as a slain Lamb before he’s qualified to unseal the Bible by a Death and Resurrection after the 72 hours Jesus didn’t fulfill. (Friday 3pm to Sunday 6am is only 39 hours in death and 36 in the Grave.)
Genesis 1:26-29 don’t have those man living in family units or homes, wearing clothes, processing their food but were to “Replenish the Earth.” Adam was formed out of God’s creation (I believe by Satan because of Ecclesiastes 1:9 and other scriptures). He was told something the 1:26-29 man wasn’t, “don’t judge,” and he and Eve were territorial unlike God’s man for them to be ashamed which caused them and their descendants to be called “daughters of men” in Genesis 6:2. Also, God spoke to his “man” mind to mind but Satan spoke verbally to his “men” which is what caused the confusion at the Tower of Babbel.
They’re not on my website, it’s Newly Revealed just in the past few months. And I believe you have written me so I will answer it and close this, but my website has a general revealing of how the Bible is written about a never ending cycle and two Messiahs.
Peace,
Elijah