A Christian Conundrum

There are many verses in the Bible that could lead one to believe that if you are a Christian life should be easy; we should get whatever we ask for if we just pray about it. 

1 John 5:14-15 are some of those verses.  "And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him.  And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for."   As long as it isn't anything bad, we should be good to go, right?

Matthew 7:7 is another one "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened for you."  Whatever I need delivered right to my door, correct?

Reading these verses out of context can really get a person in a fix.  You can't forget other verses where God reminds us that "In this world, you will have trouble" (John 16:33), "Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8).

God does not intend for the first verses I listed to be a "Get-whatever-you-want" type of faith.  One must remember that these verses are intended to be taken in context,  "whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him."  It is talking about seeking His will. 

We can't just go to God in prayer and demand our way.  That isn't the way He works.  We have to align our wants with His will.  Then and only then will we "know that He will give us what we ask for".  If we are asking that His will be done in our lives, we are able to be certain that our prayers will be answered. 

Do we always know exactly what that will is or what exactly we are praying for?  Heavens, no.  If we did, why would we need any faith.  Things get tough.  We have to fly blind every once in a while or sometimes more often than not.  But having the faith in God to know that His will for our lives far exceeds what we could ever accomplish on our own is what takes us to that next level.  It is only then that you can pray with full confidence.  Knowing that whatever we ask for will be given to us if we are asking for His ways to take over our lives.

So, yes, God's Word can seem a bit tricky at times, a little like a trap.  But if you seek His guidance to understand the real meaning of what He says it can become plain as day.