January 22nd, 2026
“Experience has taught me that the Shepherd is far more willing to show His sheep the path than the sheep are to follow. He is endlessly merciful, patient, tender, and loving.”
In two sentences, Elisabeth Elliott captures the heart of what I’ve been thinking about this week. Every human being is born with purpose and destiny designed by God Himself, and everyone has the opportunity to follow God into that destiny. If we understand that He wants us to fulfill His plan for our lives more than we want to fulfill it, our lives will be infinitely better!
This may seem like a simple truth but many of us think and live contrary to it without intending to. Some pray, begging God for things as if He doesn’t want to give them. Some fast, as though trying to change the mind of an apathetic God. Some give, as though their gift will open the hand of a stingy father. Some live as though trying to win the favor of an indifferent king. We may not say that’s what we believe, but our actions demonstrate our belief about God. As A.W. Tozer said, “What we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
When you pray, do you pray with the confidence of a child coming before their father? Do you pray with the faith that He will answer? Do you pray with the boldness that Jesus paid for? I encourage you to read and meditate on these truths:
Isaiah 30:18 says,
“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.”
Isaiah 65:24 says,
“Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
Mark 11:24 says,
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Hebrews 4:16 says,
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
1 John 5:14-15 says,
“This is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”
Prayer is the key to living in God’s will for your life, as you walk in obedience according to His Word. However, you cannot pray in faith if you believe you’re asking God for things He doesn’t want to give you, or if you pray out of alignment with His will. If you pray in humility and ask God to align your heart with His, He always will. God wants to hear and answer our prayers more than we want to pray them!
The book of Matthew records Jesus addressing the way His disciples prayed, along with the way they gave and fasted (Matthew 6:1-18). He told them to pray in secret, to give without seeking the praise of men, and to fast not desiring to be seen by others. Each of the instructions He gave ended with the statement: “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Hebrews 11:6 says,
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
God rewards those who love Him and seek Him with all their hearts.
Matthew 7:7-8 says,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
We must be persistent and diligent in our asking, our seeking, and our knocking. We must be devoted to praying, fasting, and giving, as Jesus commanded. However, in everything, just as we talked about earlier, we must understand that God wants to answer more than we want to ask.
Everything we do for God must be from the revelation that we are not working to change His heart or force His hand. We are aligning our own hearts with what He already desires.
We cannot love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27) without understanding that we only love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and when we were still sinners, Jesus loved us enough to die for us (Romans 5:8).
You cannot seek the Lord with the faith that He will reward us without understanding that His arms are already wide open, waiting to be found. In Isaiah 65:1 He said to His
wayward people,
‘I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.’
He is still calling out “here I am” to every human being on the earth. He is still waiting to hear, to be found, to reward those who will align themselves with His heart. If you’ve been fasting this month, as many believers are, it is likely the last week of your fast. Let’s push forward with everything we have, seeking the One who waits to be found. Let’s cry out to the One who longs to answer. He is a good Father and a righteous King. His arms are wide open. He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently. As you fast, pray, give, and seek Him with all your heart, understand that you are not trying to change His heart – He’s trying to change yours. He’s the Good Shepherd and He wants to lead you into the good things He has for you more than you could ever want to be there. As you align your heart and mind with the King of kings, you will walk in the life and freedom He has for you even now!
In two sentences, Elisabeth Elliott captures the heart of what I’ve been thinking about this week. Every human being is born with purpose and destiny designed by God Himself, and everyone has the opportunity to follow God into that destiny. If we understand that He wants us to fulfill His plan for our lives more than we want to fulfill it, our lives will be infinitely better!
This may seem like a simple truth but many of us think and live contrary to it without intending to. Some pray, begging God for things as if He doesn’t want to give them. Some fast, as though trying to change the mind of an apathetic God. Some give, as though their gift will open the hand of a stingy father. Some live as though trying to win the favor of an indifferent king. We may not say that’s what we believe, but our actions demonstrate our belief about God. As A.W. Tozer said, “What we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
When you pray, do you pray with the confidence of a child coming before their father? Do you pray with the faith that He will answer? Do you pray with the boldness that Jesus paid for? I encourage you to read and meditate on these truths:
Isaiah 30:18 says,
“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.”
Isaiah 65:24 says,
“Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”
Mark 11:24 says,
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
Hebrews 4:16 says,
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
1 John 5:14-15 says,
“This is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.”
Prayer is the key to living in God’s will for your life, as you walk in obedience according to His Word. However, you cannot pray in faith if you believe you’re asking God for things He doesn’t want to give you, or if you pray out of alignment with His will. If you pray in humility and ask God to align your heart with His, He always will. God wants to hear and answer our prayers more than we want to pray them!
The book of Matthew records Jesus addressing the way His disciples prayed, along with the way they gave and fasted (Matthew 6:1-18). He told them to pray in secret, to give without seeking the praise of men, and to fast not desiring to be seen by others. Each of the instructions He gave ended with the statement: “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Hebrews 11:6 says,
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.”
God rewards those who love Him and seek Him with all their hearts.
Matthew 7:7-8 says,
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
We must be persistent and diligent in our asking, our seeking, and our knocking. We must be devoted to praying, fasting, and giving, as Jesus commanded. However, in everything, just as we talked about earlier, we must understand that God wants to answer more than we want to ask.
Everything we do for God must be from the revelation that we are not working to change His heart or force His hand. We are aligning our own hearts with what He already desires.
We cannot love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27) without understanding that we only love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) and when we were still sinners, Jesus loved us enough to die for us (Romans 5:8).
You cannot seek the Lord with the faith that He will reward us without understanding that His arms are already wide open, waiting to be found. In Isaiah 65:1 He said to His
wayward people,
‘I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name.’
He is still calling out “here I am” to every human being on the earth. He is still waiting to hear, to be found, to reward those who will align themselves with His heart. If you’ve been fasting this month, as many believers are, it is likely the last week of your fast. Let’s push forward with everything we have, seeking the One who waits to be found. Let’s cry out to the One who longs to answer. He is a good Father and a righteous King. His arms are wide open. He is a rewarder of those who seek Him diligently. As you fast, pray, give, and seek Him with all your heart, understand that you are not trying to change His heart – He’s trying to change yours. He’s the Good Shepherd and He wants to lead you into the good things He has for you more than you could ever want to be there. As you align your heart and mind with the King of kings, you will walk in the life and freedom He has for you even now!
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