Pastor Ben’s Ponderings

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all
these things shall be added to you.”       (Matthew 6:33)

Sometimes the hardest thing to learn as a Christian is how to pray. I got saved at 12 years of age and grew up in church; always pretty comfortable praying and asking God for things I needed. In fact, I was so comfortable presenting my wants and needs that as a young adult I found myself having to re-evaluate my prayer habits. When I prayed I would catch myself begging God to answer in the way that I wanted, the way I thought seemed best. It didn’t even dawn on me until I read this scripture that I was trying to get my own way and was not even concerned about what He wanted for me.

One day I picked up my Bible to find some comfort and God showed me this verse. I wasn’t doing at all what He said. I wasn’t seeking first the kingdom of God, or His will, and I wasn’t concerned with righteousness as much as I was with getting what I thought In needed. From that moment on, I realized that when we seek the Lord, our will begins to line up with His, and we begin to be not so insistent on things he doesn’t mean for us to have.

I believe He wants us to be happy and feel loved, but we can’t bypass Him, trying to get it our own way. When we seek Him with all our hearts, He will give us not only what we need, but we will also begin to see that he is satisfying our deepest desires as he removes our insistence on things we shouldn’t pursue.

Through this experience, day by day it became easier to let go of my will and pray for His. I am learning that He knows what I truly need in my life. Maybe if I had learned this secret of prayer before I got myself into unnecessary messes, I could have avoided some of the heartaches of life!