Jesus said, If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. It may seem that Jesus here guarantees that he will give us anything we ask for, as long as we believe. If I want my cancer to be healed, I need only believe and ask and he will do it. If I want to be rich, I only need to “name it and claim it,” and Jesus will give me wealth. And, if I don’t receive, then my faith was not strong enough. So I need to screw up my faith my faith to the sticking point, believe harder and try again. This is an error, and it is an error because faith needs to be founded on the word of God. Faith’s object is not my desires but God’s word.
In other words, unless God has told me he will do what I want, I have no right to believe it. If God says, “I will move this mountain,” then we have a right to believe it and to ask for it. If he does not say it, we have no right to believe it. We may still ask, but the necessary qualification in such instances is, “Not my will, but yours be done.” God told Elijah that he would send rain, and when Elijah asked for it, God gave it. God did not tell Jesus that he would take his cup away from him. Jesus asked but, having no guarantee from God that it would be done, submitted himself to God’s will. Paul asked three times for the thorn in his flesh to be removed (2 Cor. 12:8), but God said, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Moses wanted to go into the promised land, but God refused him.
It is important that in our prayers we distinguish between the things God has promised and the things he has not promised. If he has promised what we ask, such as forgiveness, wisdom, deliverance from temptation, and so on, then we may ask and ask again. Ask and you shall receive, Seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. Do not let him go until he blesses you. If he has not promised, by all means ask—Make your requests known to God— but qualify your request by desiring God’s will more than what you ask. Say, Thy will be done, and mean it. If you want to be healed, ask but remember that God has not promised healing from all diseases on this side of the grave. Therefore, be ready to submit to his will, if he does not give what you ask.
And be careful of demanding. It may be that God will then give you what you ask, and you will find that it is not good. Israell demanded a king. God gave them a king in his anger, and took him away in his wrath (Hos 13:11).
And do not be always asking for temporal things—health, safety, work, rest, or whatever—and never adding, “Give me patience to bear my afflictions, and use affliction, if I must bear it, for my good.” Remember that It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes (Ps. 119:71). Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Rom. 8:5–6).
God is infinitely wiser and more compassionate than you ever can be, even toward yourself. He always seeks first not your temporal, but your everlasting good. He may know what you do not know, or do not want to know, that you need this affliction. In his severe mercy and just kindness he may give you exactly what you have greatly feared, so that you may inherit the everlasting riches of the kingdom of heaven.