April 11th, 2023
How many of you have ever prayed and felt like you weren’t being heard? How many of you have ever felt alone? It can be easy to live by how we feel rather than by what the Bible says is true. See, we may feel like we aren’t being heard or feel lonely, but the truth is that He always hears us and we’re never alone. As we celebrated Jesus’ death and resurrection last weekend, I was reminded of God’s desperate heart for humanity.
We have to understand that our prayers won’t be faith-filled if we don’t understand God’s heart. We don’t pray to inform or beg God. If we’re trying to convince Him to give us something, then we simply don’t know what He’s like. We have to understand when we pray that it’s the exact opposite. Prayer is a response to God’s love. It’s the fruit of a relationship that He initiated. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We don’t pray to a disinterested ruler. We pray to a devoted Father whose heart is absolutely for us.
He knows what we need before we ask Him and is actually waiting to bless us. Isaiah 65:24 says,
“Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.”
Jesus taught us to be anxious for nothing, because our Father knows our needs better than we do (Matthew 6:30-33). Anxiety and fear are always rooted in a misunderstanding of God’s heart. If you aren’t a child of God, fear is inevitable, but if we know God’s character and trust His heart, we should never know fear. That’s why the Bible tells us that His love, not courage, casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
Desperation can have negative or hopeless connotations, but God’s desperation is full of hope for humanity. His desperate heart is full of longing so great that He was willing to do absolutely anything to reach us. He sent His Only Son to give absolutely everything for us. There was no length too great for Him to go to demonstrate His love. Over and over in the Scripture, we see a Father with arms wide open, longing for His people. Look at these verses throughout the word of God:
Isaiah 65:1
“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.”
Hosea 11:1-4
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.”
Matthew 23:37
“How oeen would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Look at the verse in Hosea again. Do you see how much He loves His people? Even when they went away, He bent and loosened their burdens, feeding and caring for them in spite of their unfaithfulness. God is fully just, and we can only be set free from the power of sin by accepting Jesus’ sacrifice, but He loves all humanity, and He longs for the lost. 2 Peter 3:9 says,
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables that demonstrate the heart of God. He starts with the story of the lost sheep, in which a shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to look for one missing lamb, rejoicing when he finds it. The next story is about a woman who diligently searches for one lost coin out of ten and calls all of her friends to celebrate when she finds it. Finally, Jesus tells the story of a lost son. A father had two sons, and one of them lee his family to selfishly and sinfully spend his inheritance. It wasn’t until he was desolate, living with pigs in absolute filth, that he finally came to himself and prepared to go home to be a servant in his father’s house. However, before he reached home, his father saw him. Luke 15:20-24 says,
“He arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fastened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
We have all been like that prodigal son. The father didn’t overlook his sin, just as God won’t overlook ours, but the very moment we want to come home, He runs to us. As believers, we have to understand, in everything, that God’s goodness is our provision. We don’t beg God for the things we need. He waits for us. Malachi 3:10 says,
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
He is waiting to bless. He is better than we’ve ever hoped and bigger than we’ve ever dreamed. He is merciful and gracious, longing for you more than you’ve ever longed for Him. He wants your healing more than you do. He cares for your lost family, your lost children, more than you do. We don’t pray to turn God’s heart. We pray in response to His heart. He loves us more than we will ever understand, and we live in His goodness.
This week, let faith rise up in your heart for the things for which you’ve been asking. It is His will to bless you. It is His will to heal you. It is His will to set you free. God has demonstrated His desperate heart for humanity since the beginning of time, and we simply come into agreement with the One who spoke worlds into existence. He is willing and able. We aren’t waiting on His willingness. He’s waiting on us with open arms! Rest in the truth that God’s heart is open and kind. There is no shadow of turning in Him. He is a good, good Father and He is for you in every possible way!
We have to understand that our prayers won’t be faith-filled if we don’t understand God’s heart. We don’t pray to inform or beg God. If we’re trying to convince Him to give us something, then we simply don’t know what He’s like. We have to understand when we pray that it’s the exact opposite. Prayer is a response to God’s love. It’s the fruit of a relationship that He initiated. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We don’t pray to a disinterested ruler. We pray to a devoted Father whose heart is absolutely for us.
He knows what we need before we ask Him and is actually waiting to bless us. Isaiah 65:24 says,
“Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
Isaiah 30:18 says, “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.”
Jesus taught us to be anxious for nothing, because our Father knows our needs better than we do (Matthew 6:30-33). Anxiety and fear are always rooted in a misunderstanding of God’s heart. If you aren’t a child of God, fear is inevitable, but if we know God’s character and trust His heart, we should never know fear. That’s why the Bible tells us that His love, not courage, casts out fear (1 John 4:18).
Desperation can have negative or hopeless connotations, but God’s desperation is full of hope for humanity. His desperate heart is full of longing so great that He was willing to do absolutely anything to reach us. He sent His Only Son to give absolutely everything for us. There was no length too great for Him to go to demonstrate His love. Over and over in the Scripture, we see a Father with arms wide open, longing for His people. Look at these verses throughout the word of God:
Isaiah 65:1
“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.”
Hosea 11:1-4
“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more they were called, the more they went away; they kept sacrificing to the Baals and burning offerings to idols. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love, and I became to them as one who eases the yoke on their jaws, and I bent down to them and fed them.”
Matthew 23:37
“How oeen would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”
Matthew 11:28
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Look at the verse in Hosea again. Do you see how much He loves His people? Even when they went away, He bent and loosened their burdens, feeding and caring for them in spite of their unfaithfulness. God is fully just, and we can only be set free from the power of sin by accepting Jesus’ sacrifice, but He loves all humanity, and He longs for the lost. 2 Peter 3:9 says,
“The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables that demonstrate the heart of God. He starts with the story of the lost sheep, in which a shepherd leaves ninety-nine sheep to look for one missing lamb, rejoicing when he finds it. The next story is about a woman who diligently searches for one lost coin out of ten and calls all of her friends to celebrate when she finds it. Finally, Jesus tells the story of a lost son. A father had two sons, and one of them lee his family to selfishly and sinfully spend his inheritance. It wasn’t until he was desolate, living with pigs in absolute filth, that he finally came to himself and prepared to go home to be a servant in his father’s house. However, before he reached home, his father saw him. Luke 15:20-24 says,
“He arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fastened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
We have all been like that prodigal son. The father didn’t overlook his sin, just as God won’t overlook ours, but the very moment we want to come home, He runs to us. As believers, we have to understand, in everything, that God’s goodness is our provision. We don’t beg God for the things we need. He waits for us. Malachi 3:10 says,
“Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.”
He is waiting to bless. He is better than we’ve ever hoped and bigger than we’ve ever dreamed. He is merciful and gracious, longing for you more than you’ve ever longed for Him. He wants your healing more than you do. He cares for your lost family, your lost children, more than you do. We don’t pray to turn God’s heart. We pray in response to His heart. He loves us more than we will ever understand, and we live in His goodness.
This week, let faith rise up in your heart for the things for which you’ve been asking. It is His will to bless you. It is His will to heal you. It is His will to set you free. God has demonstrated His desperate heart for humanity since the beginning of time, and we simply come into agreement with the One who spoke worlds into existence. He is willing and able. We aren’t waiting on His willingness. He’s waiting on us with open arms! Rest in the truth that God’s heart is open and kind. There is no shadow of turning in Him. He is a good, good Father and He is for you in every possible way!
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