I had a conversation with a young lady recently. After much counselling and encouragement, I asked her; “Have you truly prayed about this matter?” Her response surprised me: “Sir, I don’t want to pray about it. I know God would ask me to do what I would not like to do.” There was nothing else I could say than to end the counselling.
Friend, don’t be afraid of approaching God (Hebrews 4:16). The truth is, God will not always say what you want to hear. But He would always say what you need to hear. You need not fear. God has your best interest at heart (Matthew 6:32). Refusing to pray about a matter with the fear of what God might say does not cancel the stand of God on the issue. It only places you at a risk.
A lot of people have refused to pray about their finances because of the fear that God might instruct them to give out some money (1 Timothy 6:6,10,17). Well, that is not always true. It is not every time that God will ask you to give. There are times that God would tell you to buy stuff and take care of yourself. There are times He would tell you to save up some money for the future (Proverbs 21:20).
If God ever tells you to do what you don’t want to do, it is because He plans to give you what you cannot get by yourself (Hebrews 11:6). For example, if He tells you to apologise to someone on a matter in which you are not at fault. It is because He wants to give you honour beyond the seeming shame of apologising. God will never demand without supplying (Ephesians 3:20).
God told a young man to give all his salary for the next one year. Midway into the year, someone called that God told him to buy the young man a house (Genesis 8:22). Listen, you cannot outgive God. You cannot be more planned or caring than God. Stop seeing God as a collector. Start seeing Him as the giver. Stop seeing God as one who always brings discomfort to you. Start seeing Him as a caring God (Matthew 7:11).
Worship is a place of exchange. It is beyond song. Abraham and Isaac never went to Mount Moriah with musical instruments. Yet, they went to worship (Genesis 22:5). They went to sacrifice something to God. Abraham sacrificed his love for Isaac, and Isaac sacrificed his dependence on Abraham. It was after then that they broke into their prophetic destinies (Genesis 22:15-19). What will you give up in worship today?
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria