Before I begin today’s spiritual reflections from the Bible, I want to just take a quick moment to express my gratitude to my very small, but very dedicated group of subscribers/readers.

A few weeks ago, I’ve begun making a personal decision about wanting to maintain a lower profile. As much as I wanted to be authentic and genuine about myself online, I discovered that not everybody will react/respond positively to it. Not everybody can appreciate that level of [online] vulnerability or honesty really. So that’s when I finally decided that I would begin privatizing some of my journal entries on this blog site. There will be some entries that may be available for public reading, like this “My Daily Bread” journal entries. This is something that I believe can benefit or help others. Plus I am not revealing anything too private in my daily bread entries.

But for my dedicated subscribers/readers, I would save the really private entries for them. On some level, that makes me feel a lot more comfortable too. It is my own private safe space where I know I can be 100% myself and never have to worry about being judged or persecuted.

This is Not About Getting What You Desire

⁷ “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7:7-8 [NLT]

Firstly, I want to admit that when I was reading the verse, I wasn’t exactly hoping or expecting that this would be the “word of the day” for me. By that, I mean, I was also subconsciously hoping that God might speak to me about something else instead. But again, I’m being reminded that God always knows best what we need. So I decided to take the time to really “listen”. As I looked at the Study Notes for the Bible, it began to make sense to me why God wanted to speak to me regarding this topic today.

Looking back on my rather short Christian life, I remembered many moments when this passage has been taken out of context. When I was still actively going to a local church here in SG, I was also part of what we would call, “Cell Groups”, or “Care Groups” for other churches. Point is, the group leaders/members would sometimes assume/think that this verse means that we can ask God for just about anything under the sun that we want, and we will be able to get it.

But this here is a reminder that that is not what this passage is about. In fact, we need to also consider the context that when we are praying to God, it’s about asking for His will to be done in our lives. Now, when I’m talking about God’s will for our lives, I like to assume that there will be things that we are meant to have so that we can fulfil and live up to His will for our lives. There could be things we need, sure.

Therefore, it is within the context of His will for us, and what we need in order to fulfil that will over our lives; that is what we need to be considering when we are reading Matthew 7:7-8.

Asking for the Wrong Things, or Simply Asking for the Right Things, but Not Exactly Serious About It

This is also something that I’ve been reminded of today as I’m reflecting on the passage from Matthew 7. It brought me back to moments in my life when I wasted so much time praying (by praying I mean asking for a shopping list of things I desired) for all the wrong things. For a long period of time, there was clearly no answer, but I never understood what that meant. Ofcourse, in hindsight today, I know that that I was simply asking for all the wrong things. That is most likely the reason why God didn’t respond/reply.

Then on the occasion that I did try to ask for the right things from God, I did it half-heartedly most of the time. This is truly a personal experience for me. So it’s not going to be easy to describe it to you. But all I can say is, if your heart isn’t exactly in it, then there’s a very good chance, whatever that you are asking God for (even if you’re asking for all the right things), you still may not receive it. This has nothing to do with doubts. It’s just about something in our hearts. It’s that conviction when you’re praying for it. Do you really believe it in your hearts when you are praying for it? Truly believe. That’s question that only you can answer for yourself.

Overcoming Self-Doubts

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:5-8 [NKJV]

I want to be absolutely candid here and say that I’ve struggled with a lot of self-doubts in my life. It’s not something that I’ve found easy to overcome over time. Sure, there have been moments when I felt really sure and confident about who I am and my capabilities. I later learned a phrase called, “quiet confidence”. And after that, I would focus a lot on what that phrase meant to me, both in my life as a believer and also in my personal and professional life.

But in recent years (after straying from the path that God has set for me), my self-doubts have began sipping into my life and begun growing deep roots. And now, as I begin this journey of coming back into God’s presence and grace, I need to work on finding that quiet confidence back.

The best way for me to describe what having quiet confidence is like, is to say that when you decide to say something to someone, you don’t feel that need to add anything extra into your sentences to try and convince the other party about what you’re saying. In the very same way, when we have quiet confidence as believers, we will begin to ask God for what we need to fulfil His will for our lives, and we will know inside our hearts (remember the conviction I’ve spoke of earlier) that God will answer us and bless us with whatever that we need.

²¹ may he [God] equip you with all you need for doing his will.
May he produce in you,
through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.

Hebrews 13:21 [NLT]

So I want to leave you with this final verse/passage from Hebrews 13:20-21, with an emphasis on verse 21. I pray and hope that today, you may discover/find that quiet confidence as a child of God to pray and ask God for whatever you might need in order to fulfil His will for your lives.

Personal Prayer for Today

Our Father in Heaven,

I come before You today, filled with gratitude for everything that You have been revealing to me this past week. I have indeed strayed away for far too long.

As I make the effort and renew my commitment to finding my way back into Your presence and will for my life, I am also asking that You bless me with everything that I need in order to fulfil Your calling and will upon my life.

I know that I still have a lot of self-doubt that I need to overcome. But thank You for also helping me to understand that these doubts will never ever be really gone. You have taught me before that we can’t have faith without first experiencing some doubts. It is in spite of our doubts, my doubts that I’ve chosen to continue believing/trusting You.

So as I continue with my day, on this Saturday afternoon & evening, I ask that You will continue to be with me, continue to guide me and speak to me through Your spirit and through Your word.

I vow to give You all of the praises. In Jesus’ name.

Amen.