When We Get What We Ask For (Week 13)
God loves an honest and sincere prayer, so we should never be shy to make our requests known to Him. But we should always keep in mind that His ways are so far above ours, and we should, therefore, pray for His will in the midst of our request.
The Bible contains an intriguing story about how the Israelite people asked for a king—something that was actually God’s will for them in the future. But their request demonstrated their impatience. It also revealed their wrong motives because they wanted a king to be like all the other nations, instead of being God’s chosen nation—unique and set apart unto Him.
Worst of all their request was seen as a rejection of God as their King—something He found very offensive. He knew that they would be far better off allowing Him to be their King. But they wanted a human king like all the other nations. The prophet Samuel warned them that a king would take from them everything—sons, daughters, produce, crops, livestock—but they insisted.
Though He was greatly disappointed, the Lord gave them Saul as king. But Saul disobeyed the Lord and, as a result, was replaced with David. The people got what they had asked for in Saul, but he was not God’s best for them.
David, however, had a heart after the Lord. So God promised David that His throne would be eternal—the King God had intended all along would come from the line of David. God had taken their selfish prayers and woven a beautiful tapestry. That is the loving and gracious God we serve. We can, therefore, come boldly to His throne of grace. But let’s learn from this story the importance of searching our hearts and motives as we make our requests known to Him.
To better understand how God answered the prayers of His people, join me for this episode of the Out of Zion podcast, “When We Get What We Ask For.” Walk Thru the Bible with me each week by downloading our Bible reading plan, and get started reading right away!
Invite your friends and family to join us! I can’t wait to Walk Thru the Bible with you!
About this episode:
The difficult period of Judges comes to an end with a godly judge named Samuel. He is not only Israel’s last judge but is a priest and prophet who helps Israel transition from a theocracy to a monarchy. God informed Samuel of his choice of Saul and then David as king over his people. This episode complements the daily readings from our Walk Thru the Bible reading plan for April 26 – May 2, covering 1 Samuel 1-20.