Ensign, “This the Greatest of All Dispensations”, July 2007; “God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.” – Jeffery R. Holland
James 4:2-3; “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
I want to be clear when I address the LDS teaching today so please understand when I say God doesn’t fulfill dreams I’m speaking specifically in the context of believing that God is some genie who performs magic tricks on demand for your life. This isn’t Disneyland!
There’s no doubt God changes lives – that’s what He does. I’m living proof of His miracles, as are the billions of other Christians that have ever lived and will continue to do so for the remainder of time. My life took an immediate 180 the moment I was saved and it’s without regret I publicly admit it’s been so. When Melissa sent me this quote my heart sank as I read over the words of Mr. Holland.
Look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t pray, on the contrary! James told us we don’t have because we don’t ask as noted above. Jesus told us to ask in His name and He shall give it to us – John 16:24. But do these passages mean that we can have anything we want? Of course not!
If God operates like that then why didn’t He consent to Jesus’ request while praying in Gethsemane to let this cup pass? Why didn’t He take away the thorn in Paul’s side?
We find peace and joy by being citizens of His Kingdom and those human feelings and experiences are a result of the Holy Spirit working inside of us – thus the phrase “fruits of the Spirit”! Galatians 5:22-23.
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