Usually one of the first things I do in the mornings is check the verse of the day. I use the YouVersion app and the verse of the day shows up as one of the widgets when I swipe my lock screen. Yesterday’s verse of the day was Mark 11:24 (I use the NLT version), “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. Very encouraging word, right?
This morning I woke up and per usual I checked my verse of the day. Even though I wasn’t fully awake and my eyes were still adjusting I managed to read what was there. “And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong – you only want what will give you pleasure” (James 4:3 NLT). I got up and went on with my morning routine. I ended up sitting in my living room preparing to journal about the two verses because they spoke to me on a heart level. I opened my YouVersion app and scrolled to the verse of the day and it was not James 4:3. I was so confused because not only did I know what I had seen, but I recognized what I felt as I read that verse. You can’t deny the feeling of conviction. (Well you could but what good would that do?) I was so excited after reading yesterday’s verse only to be reminded of a very harsh reality that we often overlook when seeking God for the desires of our heart.
What’s your motive?
Why do you want that job?
Why do you want that relationship with that person?
Why do you want more money?
Why do you want that house or that car?
I think in the moments where we feel like God isn’t answering our prayers like his word says he will in Mark 11, we should remember what his word also says in James 4. When things don’t go our way, we’re quick to blame God or believe that he doesn’t hear us or that we’ve messed up so bad in the past that there’s no way he would give us the desires of our heart. But that’s not true. Sometimes God doesn’t give us the desires of our heart simply because we desire them for the wrong reasons.
Check your motive.
Xoxo,
Ash, RN