Written By Ben Dankaka
Meditation – Acts 16:6-10
Most times, when we pray to God, our words are filled with requests, asking God to fulfill all our heart desires. Because we think prayer is a one way conversation, we often don’t expect God to respond or to tell us what He feels about our requests. So the moment we say our requests, we quickly end our prayers and move on to other things, hoping that God will quietly accept and do our bidding. We are so engrossed with thoughts of what we want from God, that we frequently forget that God also has thoughts of his own, which might be different from ours.
One of the reasons why many Christians don’t ever have any experience of hearing God’s voice is because they don’t expect Him to speak. They think that God’s role, when it comes to prayers is to quietly accept our requests and do our bidding. Many Christians aren’t aware that God has plans for each of His children. In fact, God does not only have plans for us, He shares His plans with us. If you know that, you would naturally expect God to speak to you when you pray.
When the priests and elders of Judah were exiled to Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, they thought that God had abandoned them forever. But Jeremiah, who knew how to hear from God, sent a letter to the people, informing them of what the LORD told him. God said to them, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future…” Isn’t comforting to know that our God does not only have great plans for us, but also reveals does plans? Knowing God’s plans for us is important because His plans often override ours.
The Bible says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails”. Sometimes, God halts or disrupts our plans so we could accomplish His own purposes. It happened to Paul and his companions when the Holy Spirit prevented them from preaching the word in the province of Asia. Though they had planned to enter Bithynia, the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. Obviously, God had a different plan from theirs because it was almost immediately that Paul had a vision of a man begging him to come over to Macedonia. So they immediately left for Macedonia, believing it was God’s plan for them. I don’t know what you are going through right now. Maybe, there’s something you are trying to do and your prayers aren’t answered. Don’t feel abandoned. God might have a different plan that will surely prosper you in the end.
Prayer: Lord, let your will be done. Amen.
REFERENCES/FURTHER STUDY: Jeremiah 29:11; Proverbs 19:21; Acts 16:6-10
Unless otherwise stated all scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version.