1 John 5:14-15; “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.”
Back in my basketball playing days I spent hours studying the art of shooting a basketball. I had a couple of books I read inside out and would try my best to put into action what I read in those books. After a few years of studying and practicing I was able to simplify my shooting technique to the point where I focused on three very basic but important elements of the shot. My eyes needed to be focused on the goal, my hands (with the ball in them) needed to come through my body area prior to the shot and my feet needed to be aligned with the goal. The execution of these three important aspects of my shot kept me balanced and aligned and usually led to good things.
Believe it or not, prayer and the results of prayer are much like shooting a basketball. If our will is aligned with God’s will and we ask God for something in prayer according to His will then we can rest assured the results of our prayer are the results God intends for us to have–see 1 John above.
Just like learning how to be aligned with the basket in order to successfully make shots in basketball, it takes practice to be aligned with God’s will to a point where we know our prayer is always being answered even when the answer seems to be “no” or “let me get back with you.”Â
The best way for me to know whether or not I am aligned with God’s will is to reflect on how well I respond to God’s “unanswered prayers.” If I pray and I don’t get what I asked for and I get anxious…well it means I have some work, i.e. practice to do. If I pray and don’t get what I asked for and I accept God’s will for me then I know all my work at studying the word and praying for God’s will is paying off.
Do you often find yourself at odds with the answers God is giving you to prayer? Do you seem to be having to put way too much effort into handling life? Do you often wish others would get it together so you can get it together? These are but a few examples of emotions arising from a life run with too much self will involved; a life out of alignment with God’s will.
Some of God’s most powerful answers to my prayers have been no answers. In times like that I know He has something He wants me to “grow through” and the “grow through” process requires me to just keep moving forward and staying aligned with Him, knowing an answer is always awaiting me.Â
Kind of like successfully shooting a basketball…eyes on the GOAL and having our hands and feet aligned (doing what He calls us to do) with the GOAL. When we do this we know good things will happen.
P.E.A.C.E.
(This blog thought came to me yesterday as I said “see you later” to my former basketball workout partner, life friend and most importantly a man aligned with God’s will;Â Skip Jackson.)
