We live in a world where we are conditioned
to believe that
you get what you give. We mostly commit to things or
relationships based on what we can get out of it and on what we are willing to
invest back into it.
Unfortunately, this mindset has been
influencing how we relate to God. We ask for things our hearts desire, but deep
in our hearts we believe things like, “I’m not gonna get it, because I don’t
deserve it.”
A very basic example of where we were
taught to think like this was in school when we prepared for a test. We were
taught that if you worked really hard, then you were ‘allowed’ to pray that God
would help you to get really good marks… ‘cause you’d ‘deserve’ it, right?
And when you didn't prepare that much, then
you pray something like, “God, please help me with this test. Help me to
remember everything that I have studied.”
I have to ask…
Why ask to help you remember only what you have studied?
Why not ask to help you with every single question regardless of what you’ve studied?
‘Cause that’s not what we ‘deserve’, right?
You can’t ask for something unless you have
worked for it… and deserve it…
I honestly think that that is NOT how God works.
That is not how Grace works.
Grace
is undeserved kindness and forgiveness from God.
There is NOTHING you can do to ‘deserve’ it. Nothing.
It is a GIFT.
To
you. From God.
You ask for good marks, He wants to give you the best marks.
You ask for enough food to survive, He wants to give you dessert as well.
But then you might ask, “Leigh-Ann, if it
is as simple as that, then why am I not driving a Ferrari?”
Well, the answer is just as simple:
Because
YOU are not allowing yourself to have
what you deeply want and what He so
excitedly wants to give to you.
You ask, you beg, but you ask with hands closed. He wants to give you what
your heart desires, but you won’t take it. Because deep in your heart you are
convinced that you won’t get it… that you don’t deserve it… how can you have
what you don’t take?
Jesus’ words to YOU:
“I tell you, you can pray for anything, and
if you believe that you’ve (past tense) received it, it will be yours.” Mark11:24
Then you might ask, “But Leigh-Ann, I am
ready to take what I want, but I still don’t have it?”
That, I believe, is God protecting you. He will not give you what you cannot handle. For example, a mother won’t give her baby a
piece of steak when the baby can only handle milk and soft baby food.
Another question might be, “Leigh-Ann, does
this mean that I never have to study for a test again since God will just help
me when I ask Him?”
That is not how God works either. He wants
to and will help you unconditionally,
yes. But, along with the gift of Grace, you have also been given many talents.
And these talents you have to develop and mature in to fulfill His
glorious plans for you.
You can’t just sit back and let Him do all the work
for you. I am sure He will do it out of complete love for you. But then you
basically end up hiding your Godly talents and abilities…you end up being
average…
So study. Not so that He can help you, he
will help regardless and if you allow it. But study so that you
can grow into an influential individual who can change the world with the
talents He has given to you.
(The "study for a test" concept is only an example of where we think in terms of what we deserve. Where else in YOUR life do you think like this?)
Love
