"Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss,
that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Basically what we have here is simple. The things we are asking for, we ask for wrongly. That is what the word for amiss means. If you put it into context, it implies that those things are for our own selfish lusts. The two words consume and lust are the keys. Consume in this text literally means to waste or squander. The word lusts means for pleasure. So what this verse is saying is, we ask for things in our life that are only pertaining to us so we may be pleased or pleasured. Does this mean that we can't have things that bring us pleasure in this life? Of course not. What it means is, where is our focus? When we come before Him to spend time with and make our requests known, are perspective is skewed. We are so focused on ourselves that the correct things we need to be praying for get neglected. Something I have found as I am getting older, trust me I ain't old, is that it really is all about Him. I could not have made it this far without Him. I mean, I look back on life and really see God's provisions. Even in times when I was so out of touch with His will for my life, He has been faithful to meet me where I was, pick me up and dust me off to get me going again. Gail Erwin says something that really hits it on the head. He says that Jesus was "others centered". Are we? I know the first person I think about when I get up is me. Then everything else. Really our focus should be on Him. If it is, then our prayers will line up with His will for our life. Then we will receive because we ask correctly. No one said the Christian life was easy but we also don't need to make it harder. To be honest, it really isn't that hard when we let go of control and allow God to dictate the terms of our daily existence. Especially when He has our best interest mind. It gets hard when our focus is on us and we feel our prayers are not answered. See the above verse to see why they don't get answered. This week I encourage you as well as myself, to examine our life and see where we stand. Do we seek Him and his will for our lives, or am I/ you always on our minds? Be blessed this week and seek Him.
Bob
that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Basically what we have here is simple. The things we are asking for, we ask for wrongly. That is what the word for amiss means. If you put it into context, it implies that those things are for our own selfish lusts. The two words consume and lust are the keys. Consume in this text literally means to waste or squander. The word lusts means for pleasure. So what this verse is saying is, we ask for things in our life that are only pertaining to us so we may be pleased or pleasured. Does this mean that we can't have things that bring us pleasure in this life? Of course not. What it means is, where is our focus? When we come before Him to spend time with and make our requests known, are perspective is skewed. We are so focused on ourselves that the correct things we need to be praying for get neglected. Something I have found as I am getting older, trust me I ain't old, is that it really is all about Him. I could not have made it this far without Him. I mean, I look back on life and really see God's provisions. Even in times when I was so out of touch with His will for my life, He has been faithful to meet me where I was, pick me up and dust me off to get me going again. Gail Erwin says something that really hits it on the head. He says that Jesus was "others centered". Are we? I know the first person I think about when I get up is me. Then everything else. Really our focus should be on Him. If it is, then our prayers will line up with His will for our life. Then we will receive because we ask correctly. No one said the Christian life was easy but we also don't need to make it harder. To be honest, it really isn't that hard when we let go of control and allow God to dictate the terms of our daily existence. Especially when He has our best interest mind. It gets hard when our focus is on us and we feel our prayers are not answered. See the above verse to see why they don't get answered. This week I encourage you as well as myself, to examine our life and see where we stand. Do we seek Him and his will for our lives, or am I/ you always on our minds? Be blessed this week and seek Him.
Bob
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