Something Better ♥ True Answers

Usually when we pray, we pray hoping that God will answer our prayers.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Jesus invites us to ask and it will be given, knock and you will find, Matthew 7:7-8

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

But sometimes I think we settle for less when all we ask for is answers to prayer.  The truth is God is waiting to pour out something better than what we ask for, something that is in fact better than we can even think or imagine, Eph. 3:20.

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

For instance when the early church asked God for boldness to speak His word in the face of opposition, Acts 4:29.

29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

God not only answered their prayer and gave them boldness to speak the word but He sent a power that shook the room they were meeting in, Acts 4:31

31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

That’s pretty much the same thing he did in Acts 2:1 where they had been praying together in the Upper Room following the Lord’s ascension.  God poured out the Holy Spirit and enabled them to speak in languages that everyone understood.

The problem is sometimes when we pray all we ask for is answers when what God really wants is to pour out his power upon us in a way that shakes the foundations of the church and leads to an outpouring of His glory.  What I need to do then is stop just asking for answers to prayer and ask for an outpouring of His power upon my live and His church.