"ask and you will receive"

[Chica_Catolica]

I'm reading Luke as my daily devotion right now, and I'm confused about something. In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus says "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Now the part that I have trouble with is the "as and you will receive" part. I can't find exactly where it says this, but everyone's familiar with it, I'm sure...elsewhere in the Bible, it says "not my will but Yours be done." Doesn't the "ask and you will receive" contradict "not my will but Yours be done"? Sometimes what I ask for might not always be God's will for me. He knows what's best for me. So while it seems as if i know what is best for me at one point, God knows that something else is better for me in the long run. But if I were to ask for what I thought was best, I'm supposed to receive it though, even though it might not be God's will. I guess I'm just confused as to how these two things can work together. The way I look at it is that God's will trumps what I want, but for someone else who may not be very mature in their faith, they might get discouraged if they ask for something and they do not receive. I'd appreciate any thoughts/comments in helping to clarify this for me. Thank you!

[Brother Adam]

[quote name='Chica_Catolica' date='Mar 28 2006, 02:22 PM']I'm reading Luke as my daily devotion right now, and I'm confused about something.  In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus says "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened."  Now the part that I have trouble with is the "as and you will receive" part.  I can't find exactly where it says this, but everyone's familiar with it, I'm sure...elsewhere in the Bible, it says "not my will but Yours be done."  Doesn't the "ask and you will receive" contradict "not my will but Yours be done"?  Sometimes what I ask for might not always be God's will for me.  He knows what's best for me.  So while it seems as if i know what is best for me at one point, God knows that something else is better for me in the long run.  But if I were to ask for what I thought was best, I'm supposed to receive it though, even though it might not be God's will.  I guess I'm just confused as to how these two things can work together.  The way I look at it is that God's will trumps what I want, but for someone else who may not be very mature in their faith, they might get discouraged if they ask for something and they do not receive.  I'd appreciate any thoughts/comments in helping to clarify this for me.  Thank you!
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I think you have identified the problem with your own reasoning that these two verses may contradict each other. If I ask God for a million dollars right now, I'm not going to get it. I think if we look to the spiritual value of the verse, and not take it at literal face value, we discover the power of prayer. We know that God loves us and wants to bless us. When we open our lives to God and surrender to Him, we come into closer conformity with His will. When we ask, humbly, for that which is in the will of God, we will receive it. It may take time, but God answers prayer. And to receive may not always be exactly what you had in mind. Just my 2 cents.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

[quote name='Brother Adam' date='Mar 28 2006, 03:35 PM']I think you have identified the problem with your own reasoning that these two verses may contradict each other. If I ask God for a million dollars right now, I'm not going to get it. I think if we look to the spiritual value of the verse, and not take it at literal face value, we discover the power of prayer. We know that God loves us and wants to bless us. When we open our lives to God and surrender to Him, we come into closer conformity with His will. When we ask, humbly, for that which is in the will of God, we will receive it. It may take time, but God answers prayer. And to receive may not always be exactly what you had in mind. Just my 2 cents.
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Indeed.

We cannot move mountains simply by telling it to move believing that it will. Having faith in God means coming into accord with His will. When we have faith, then we will only tell the mountain to move because it is God's will...and then it will happen.

Faith isn't a magical device to give us power...faith is something which conforms us to God's will so that His power may work through us as He wills.

[Chica_Catolica]

I understand that we can't just ask for anything like a million dollars because we'll expect God to give that to us. That'd be kind of like testing Him to see if He actually would do it, and that's not right. I guess I should've clarified what I meant. I'll give a scenario to demonstrate: A woman is ill with cancer. Her granddaughter prays for her to overcome this, and she is sincerely praying about it. Yet her grandmother still dies. Obviously God knows what is best, but praying about something like that isn't completely ridiculous, right? People do it all the time. We have the sick list at church. I know there's a problem with praying for something completely ludicrous, but that's not what I was wondering about. I guess what I'm gathering is that we should just pray to do God's will (right?) and not ask for our own intentions.

[cappie]

This verse does not mean that we receive whatever we want in prayer. As v. 13 demonstrates, with its reference to receiving God’s Spirit, the suggestion is that we receive what is spiritually beneficial.

It teaches that we should not grow weary or discouraged in our prayer life. “Keep on asking ... keep on seeking ... keep on knocking ... .” Sometimes God answers our prayers the first time we ask. But in other cases He answers only after prolonged asking.

God answers prayers:
Sometimes, when hearts are weak,
He gives the very gifts believers seek;
But often faith must learn a deeper rest,
And trust God’s silence when He does not speak;
For He whose name is love will send the best,
Stars may burn out, nor mountain walls endure,
But God is true; His promises are sure.
He is our strength.