God- Help Me to Desire your Ways

Job 35

One person once asked me, “Jon, how come God is not answering my prayer?” I then ask them what they are praying for. Then once they tell me, I say, “God already did answer, and it is either wait or no. Just because we did not get what we wanted does not mean that God did not answer us, it means he answered us by not giving us something that would be harmful for us.

If you think about it, if you were a parent and your child asked to play with something dangerous like knives, you would say no. God is doing the same thing. We may be asking for something we want but God knows that it would be harmful for us.

In this chapter Elihu is talking to Job about his responses.

God is Big

In verses 2- 8 Job Elihu is responding to one of Job’s statements, “What right do I have before God?” Job says, “What profit do I get for not sinning, it would be as if I did sin, I would still be in the same place.” It is true that we stand before God without any rights. God does not owe us anything. He has given us life and we stand before him worthless because of sin.  

A side note about this. Elihu was saying that God does not profit from us doing good or evil. This may be true, he does not profit anything from us but God also does demand obedience from his children. As believers we should desire to please God and do what his word says. Commentator Ray Stedman brings up a good point. He said this is why a lot of people’s prayers are not answered. People may cry from relief from their circumstance but they do not need relief right then, they need to be transformed. If God gave relief right away then they would go back to their old ways of sin and selfishness. God has people go through things and does not give relief right away so growth could take place. The only thing is Job was righteous before God. He was not going through all this because he needed to stop sinning and being selfish. He was going through it because he was faithful.

The truth is in this situation, Job wants to defend himself before God and say he is right and God is wrong, but God is not wrong. What Job is receiving is what Job is receiving and he needs to endure. We will see that God will answer Job soon and Job will realize that God is wise and in control. 

When you Pray:

When you keep praying for the same thing, and you think God is not answering your request, ask, “Is this my will or God’s will?” A.W. Tozer said, “To pray effectively we must want what God wants-that and that only is to pray the will of God.” When we start wanting what God wants, our prayers will be different. We will know that we do go through hardships and sometimes we need to endure. Even through the hard times our prayer service will be a praise service. As Job even worshiped the Lord as he knew God was in control after he received the news about his wealth and children.