Careful What You Ask

Be Careful What You Ask

Reading can be a dangerous thing – so can prayer! I have been reading the life of Rees Howells. Here is a man who had a close relationship with God. He had daily conversations with His Saviour, and he was obedient to a point that most of us would blanch and back off quickly. He is the closest modern equivalent I have found to the prophets of old in the way he heard from God. The book simply inspired me to desire that sort of closeness to God for myself and for others in our generation.

So I started to pray about these things and the Lord gave me a vision of calling out to the church for those who also wanted this closeness for themselves. In the vision, I heard a phrase that Rees Howells also heard – “Be careful what you ask. Be careful what you pray for.” I asked the Lord why. After all, if the vision is of God, and the call is of God, why the need for care in asking for fulfilment of the vision. “Because, I might just take you very literally at your word.” I thought this was not too bad when the Lord reminded me of a remark made to me by a work colleague some 25 years ago!! This man said to me, “I will help you but some people have asked me never to help them again as my idea of what they need to solve their problem may be very different to the way they wanted it solved.” Then the Lord brought to mind the scripture, Isaiah 55:8 “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.“

So, give careful thought to what you ask and the way you ask for it. Don’t ask casually or flippantly because God does not have to think or imagine like we do, He just speaks and it is so - the exact way that He wants it. If any of us is careless enough to say, once too often, “I will pay whatever the price may be,” or words to that effect, then God may accept us at our word, and the cost may just be too high a price. I for one, want whatever the Lord has for me and I pray that, in His mercy, He will give me those things I need for His Kingdom work that He has assigned to me. I don’t suppose for one minute that the cost will be too high, nor do I think it will be anything other than pure joy, but He has warned all of us to be careful what we pray for.

Are we willing to pay the price for real revival rather than our present view of it? Are you prepared to pay the cost of total surrender  to His will for you? The answer may still be ‘yes’, but you need to consider some of the “What if . . . “ questions.  We are entering into serious times and the Lord wants to use us in whatever capacity He feels best for us. Therefore He needs people who are prepared to fulfil every last ounce of the promises they make to Him – however carelessly we made the promise in the first place.

Just be careful what you ask from God – that’s all. Be prepared for the answer, “Yes.”