I went for a one week fast recently and I had a set of things I wanted to ask God about during the whole journey, ‘safari ya neema’ as one of my friends likes to call it. Day one, during the night just before I slept, I opened my e-bible to continue my reading on the book of John and something caught my eye; reading from the first chapter in verse 22, we see the people who were sent from the Pharisees to question John on his idea of himself and his work because he was causing a wave in his ministry. They asked ‘who do you think you are doing whatever you’re doing in these parts?’ and what he told them was such a big revelation that they shouldn’t have failed to notice the implication of it. Twice he told them that he was the precursor to the Messiah, whom all the Jews had been waiting for since the Old Testament times. Plainly he told them that Christ was among them but they ignored his answers only because they were so caught up in getting what they want or what they asked for that they dismissed what they were getting.
In all the while I have been a Christian, this has never hit me so hard…that sometimes we wallow in a plateau state of asking and asking from God when He has already answered but it passes us because it isn’t the answer to the question we asked. In our search for the immediate goal, we mistake the immediate for the urgent and/or important and these labels can end up blinding us. We become short-sighted and let our zeal for what we want funnel our scope of what we think should be the expected answers.
This of course struck me so hard because I was in a fasting and praying period where I would be asking specific questions so reading this on the first day caused me to rethink my idea of how and what God would answer. I opted to stay in His presence and read His word, listen to His servants and pray effectively. The trick is to know His voice whenever He speaks and to be in His presence so as not miss when He does speak. In john 10:27, Jesus says my sheep hear my voice and answer me when I speak so we should all know it and listen to what he is saying; not what we expect him to say.
There’s a bible plan on youversion that has the following principles one should follow to pray effectively,
To pray according to the word,
To pray in his name,
And finally to ensure what we’re praying for is bringing us joy.
Pray earnestly in these three things and be sure that Jesus has heard your prayer and God is working on it…wait to hear His answer.
Pray this short prayer:
I pray not to be short-sighted, not limiting myself to the immediate but unimportant things. When I ask, the answer maybe be given but not the one I want so help me understand that the answer is the most important thing. Let me not be so focused on what I want to hear and forget that you know what you’re doing God.
