Daily Encounter: A Week-day Devotional by a staff of ACTS International.

Friday, March 13, 2015

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears usâ€"whatever we askâ€"we know that we have what we asked of him."¹

Some time ago I read how, when Norman and Melissa "C" stopped making payments on their Hartford, Connecticut house, the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) began foreclosure proceedings.

The Camerons contacted FNMA officials to explain why they had stopped making payments on their $54,000 mortgage: God told them they could. "It was our desire to be free from this mortgage debt," the Camerons told the court overseeing the foreclosure. "Therefore we asked God our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. He heard us and He freed us from this mortgage bondage."

According to this report, the FNMA officials made it clear that they would continue with foreclosure proceedings until they, too, are contacted by God.

This illustration is certainly extreme but I have heard others claim "God" had told them to do such and such, and before long "God" was telling them the opposite. Sometimes some people justify what they want to do by claiming "God" told them this was the right thing to do. This is not faith. It is presumption. Faith only applies to prayer that is in harmony with God’s will.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give me sense enough to know the difference between faith and presumption, and to always ensure that my prayers are in harmony with Your will. Thank You that when I pray this way, You always hear and answer my prayers. Gratefully in Jesus's name, amen."

1. 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV).

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