‘What if…” A Change in Heart…

Matthew 7:7 ‘Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find, knock, and the door will be opened unto you.’

What comes to your mind in a ‘what if?’ scenario? Judgment, accusations, pain, injury, fear? How many times do we play the ‘what if’ card – only to leave ourselves beaten, bruised, and lying in a heap of anxiety? This often comes to no achievement of anything but non-peace. The opposite of faith, and the word.

I was doing my Bible study homework and it was on prayer. Now as a firm believer in prayer – I tend to nod and amend a person on what I already know… Well – that’s just tacky of me. What do I know? And - with the knowledge I have, what do I practice?

Sometimes we need a slight, swift kick in the pants to remind us where we are with God. We can be full of the knowledge of God, faith, and peace. But do we live in that knowledge, or do we live in sight?

Today – I realized my problem. I have become lax in prayer life due to circumstances. Nothing bad – just a change routine. But that ‘lackness’ of putting up my shield of faith, has let all kinds of arrows come looming in at me. These arrows are the kind that have been hurled at me since I was a small girl. These arrows have nothing to do with my Father – these come from the father of lies.

And what do these arrows bring? This time –they bring more ‘what ifs’ then I want to count.

So going back to today’s lesson I was reading… What exactly was it talking about? 

Receiving.

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask and it shall be GIVEN you

Seek and ye shall FIND.

Knock and the door shall be OPENED unto you.

For everyone who asks RECEVIES.

Everyone who seeks FINDS

And to everyone who knocks – the door will be OPENED unto him.

I love the NLT – it says… 'Keep on asking.'

Do you find yourself worrying about asking God for the same thing over and over? Well, rest assured. There is plenty of scripture telling us to keep on asking.

Luke 18:1-8, Mark 11:24, John 15:7, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9-13

The Lord has been telling me about receiving. He just wants me to receive – and I want to think it comes with a cost – but I’m wrong. Do you hear me on this? It is so hard to think God may just give us something… or it is for me at least.

Let’s go back to this ‘what-if’ game. What is really going on? God wants me to play ‘what-if’ with Him. But it looks a little different…

If I play ‘what-if’ with confidence, then I’m not looking at ‘what-if’ the bottom drops out… I’m looking at ‘what-if’ God decides to bless, to give, to grant to do the things His word says? Like ‘Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires you’re your heart.’ (Psalm 34:7) or ‘May He grant your heart’s desires and make all your plans succeed.’ (Psalm 20:4) ‘May the Lord answer all of your prayers’ (Psalm 25:5b)

I ask you… “What-if” He does? What if He comes through? What if He provides that money? What if He answers that prayer for a job, for a car, for a bill? What if?

Who is He? I am reminded of a word He keeps giving me.

As Moses speaks with God about the Israelites in Numbers 11, God asked Moses ‘Is there a limit to my Power?” (Verse 23.) Let me go ahead and tell you the answer is no - and I don’t think we want to test Him on this.

I do think we should look at one more conversation of Moses and God. The first recorded one… The one where God was speaking out of a bush ablaze with His glory… In the words of God –

“Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

So I ask one last time - ‘What if…?’