Your email preview

“You ask and do not receive because….” James 4:3

Here is a challenging response that I found last night as I was reading James; a response to the question about answered prayers! How come some get answers and some don’t, or at least appear that they don’t? I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again- it’s not wrong to ask for things in prayer. There are plenty of examples of that in the Bible. I just personally have found it challenging to “ask” because my asks usually seem more about Him giving me what I want rather than discovering what He wants for me.

James suggests that maybe I don’t get what I want sometimes because I ask with wrong motives. And, another thing I have often repeated because it’s my mantra to Scripture reading and understanding—if it’s important to God, it’s clear in His word. Well, James defines pretty clearly what he means when he says I might not be getting my prayers answered by saying, “you ask with the wrong motives.” And what are the “wrong motives? (remember? If it’s important to God it’s clear in His word!)—“that you may spend what you get on your own pleasures.”

That stopped me for a brief review of my recent “asks.” Two columns on a piece of scratch paper confirmed my previous opinion of asking. One column “for God,” one column “for me.” Then I reviewed my asks and discovered again that the first column was not nearly as full as the second column!

Until my column 1 is fuller than my column 2 I plan to continue my prayer journey with a focus on “thanks,” rather than “please.” And all my “pleases” I want to be about Him and His will in my life. “YOUR will be done, God, not mine!”

Have a great day discovering the prayerful joy of thankfulness,

Pastor Rich

Quote for the day: "A disappointment can sometimes be a divine appointment in disguise." Lysa Terkeurst

PS Don’t forget this week is the deadline for submitting your application to work in Campus Ministries. We are having quite a turn over next year with many of our current staff graduating, being SMs, or doing internships, so we have numerous openings. Pick up your application at Campus Ministries.

PPS Broken Arrow Ranch is looking for a few more staff. Tim Floyd will be here this weekend. Visit with you if you want a life-changing summer experience in youth ministries.

PPPS Garrett McClarty, UC grad and former AFM missionary in India, will be here this weekend to share with you his vision of graduates using their gifts, talents and calling by intentionally moving their new careers to a place that needs a church plant! Powerful idea for after you graduate. He’s hoping to meet with students who may be interested in being part of a church planting team in the Northern New England Conference. If you are, or might be, wrestling with where to go after graduation or how to be a part of spreading the gospel, he’d love to connect with you while in Lincoln.

project in New England is an attempt to follow the Biblical principles of discipleship and spreading the Gospel asking each team to spend time in prayer asking, "what would the gospel look like here, how can we follow the Spirit's leading and invite people to follow Christ". This is what AFM has asked teams to do around the world, and following that model, the Northern New England Conference is inviting church planting teams to work in the conference to mingle with people and invite people to follow Jesus. We expect that this may not look like the traditional church model that has been up to this time. We are deeply committed to the Seventh-day Adventist message and look forward to seeing the SDA church revitalized in New England.