Ask and it shall be given to you...so long as it is God's will. That's the part of the prayer many often forget. God is many things, however, he is not the genie in the bottle who will grant you three wishes!
Be careful what you pray for, you may just get it...often our Heavenly Father does just that! Remembering that he does have a sense of humor, I am reminded of a prayer I prayed for about a year - he answered that prayer and it was at that time I learned to be more specific in my prayers to him!
In these verses, we see that not only should we pray, but we should pray with confidence! Going into prayer not believing in what we are petitioning for will happen is the same as making a decision we aren't going to like something before we've experienced it. Additionally, praying for God to change things after they've occurred is similar to closing the barn door after the horse has escaped! God is not going to turn back time and change what has transpired (I've asked, numerous times)! He will, however, bless you with the courage and strength to go through the situation and come out a better person for having experienced it. Often when we realize our own shortcomings just a tad bit too late, he will intervene and make right what we have risked destroying by our own shortsightedness. The lesson we learn is what we were supposed to learn! He is our greatest teacher if we allow him the opportunity!
So, pray with confidence, pray with purpose and be specific! If you desire the ability to be compassionate, know that you will experience situations that will require you to know what it means to be shown compassion. If you desire patience, know that you will inevitably find yourself in situations that are annoying. If you desire the courage, strength and wisdom of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, you may not find yourself walking in a firey furnace, but you will be thrust into a walk with Jesus that will teach you about yourself and you will find out just what you are made of and with God's help, you will come through that walk braver, stronger and wiser than you could have ever imagined!
