It’s a motivation thing …

Even though I’m very comfortable with the internet and a capable internet surfer, I find myself often coming up short in some of my online searches.

For example, I hear of some great research someone has done online, about all the rich information they were able to gather, so I hit the internet, enter my search words, and come up dry.

Well not always. I’m still amazed at the information I can gather from the internet, but it often seems like I’m just not getting some of the great research data available online that I hear about others finding out there.

The problem must be with me. It must be how I search, and I’m always working on improving that.

The same goes with seeking things from God. Many people say they’ve prayed and prayed, but God doesn’t answer. God always answers, but in His time and His way … and sometimes the answer is “no.”

But sometimes the problem is in how we approach God. James brings this to light for us in James 4, starting with verse 2b, “… Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.”

“I do ask!” you say, “but I still don’t have what I want!”

James addresses that problem directly in the next verse (James 4:3), “And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong — you want only what will give you pleasure.”

Some people are “blessings chasers.” They pursue the blessings of God without ever really pursuing the God who blesses. They go to God to get, not to give. They desire blessings rather than relationship. Such motives reduces their idea of God as being no greater than a genie in a bottle, or a “pocket God.”

God doesn’t interact with us that way. Our motives have everything to do with how God will respond to what we ask of Him. James says to get our requests from God, we need to ask, and do so with the right motives. What might those be? Psalm 37:4 gives us a clear answer to that: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.“

When our view of, and interaction with God gets right — finding delight in Him — our motives change. Our desires then become reflective of His will and His way. Then God will give us beyond our needs, to even our heart’s desires.

Finding what you want requires more than asking … it’s a motivation thing. What are your motives when you seek God?

Scotty