Ask God Honestly
Everything begins with our relationship with God.
Jesus made it possible for us to have a restored relationship with God. We can talk with God, spend time in His presence, and ask Him to help us—because, as believers, we are called His sons and daughters.
Because of our relationship with God, He listens to us. Much like a child talking to their parents, God wants us to speak to and connect with Him. When we pray, we have the opportunity to tell God our needs, our concerns, and the desires of our heart.
Jesus tells us that if we seek a relationship with God, we will find it. God gives Himself freely to all who are looking to Him. God isn’t hiding in heaven, hoping that we will someday find Him. He is readily available to engage with His people.
This means we should be persistent in our relationship with Him. We have access to the Creator of the world! Everything comes from Him and has life because of Him. He has the ability to give us the things we need, and even the things we desire with pure motives.
However, while we can ask for whatever we want, it doesn’t mean He will give us everything we ask for. Just like an earthly father won’t give his child something harmful, God also won’t give us something we do not need (Matthew 7:10-11).
Sometimes, we don't ask God for things because we may feel guilty for doing so. But God actually desires for us to go to Him—even with the smallest of requests.
So take some time today and tell God how you honestly feel. Ask Him for the things you truly need in life—the ways you're counting on Him to show up. Continue each day building a relationship with Him through Scripture reading and prayer.
“And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, ...
Fulfillment of God’s Promises
Hundreds of years before Jesus, the people of God were in trouble.
They were stuck in life, unable to help themselves, and perhaps beginning to doubt that God would save them. Have you ever felt the same way? If so, you might relate to the original audience of this verse—the exiles in Babylon.
The Babylonians conquered God's people and land, sending them hundreds of miles away. Maybe they thought that God had abandoned them, or that He couldn’t hear their cries. But God is always close—especially when His people call on His name.
Isaiah let his people know that God would provide a way out of Babylonian captivity. And God kept His promise, allowing His people to return home.
Generations later, many of God’s people saw themselves as being in a new exile. They were home, but all was not well. So they remembered this verse and its promise—that no matter how dark or desperate our situation might be, God is able to provide a path out of brokenness, ...