Getting our Needs and Desires In Alignment

Read Time:  12 Minutes

There is a tremendous amount of misconception about what a need is. If you do not know what God's Word says you will not walk with God in the abundance, power and confidence that God has intended His children to manifest.

It is said that God sends sickness and disease to teach people a lesson or as punishment for some action or lack thereof. God is blamed for natural disasters (acts of God) and death. These accusations cannot be found in His Word!

I John 1
:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him,
    and declare unto you,
    that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

II Corinthians 13
:11 Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort,
    be of one mind, live in peace;
    and the God of love and peace shall be with you.

Who ever thought God punished people hasn't read Ephesians.

Ephesians 2
:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh,
    fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;
    and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

We were God rejecters, even doing harmful acts against God's people.

:4  But God, who is rich in mercy,
     for his great love wherewith he loved us,
:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,
        (by grace ye are saved;)
:6 And hath raised us up together,
    and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
:7 That [reason being] in the ages to come
    he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us
    through Christ Jesus.

Even though we rejected God and His Son he still had love for us and is rich in mercy (withholding of merited judgment) toward us. He draws us towards Him with his great love and goodness and quickens us, makes us alive, and raises us up out of the muck and mire of the world, seating us together with Christ in the heavenlies.  He has increased our station in life! When you make Jesus Christ lord in your life and believe that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9 & 10) you are no longer a child of wrath, you have been brought into the household of God. Why did He do this? So that He could show us the exceeding riches, not just richness, but the exceeding richness of His grace in kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

John 3
:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
    that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

He gave his only son's life so that we could be rescued. We needed rescued because:

John 10
:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
    I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The thief is the evil one, our adversary, the devil.  His sole intention is to steal the Word from mankind, kill the body, and destroy the life so that it cannot accept Jesus Christ as Lord and be redeemed. But God goes one step further. Just snatching us from the clutches of the evil one wasn't enough, He has provided for us to have life which cannot be destroyed and to have it more abundantly. Since that is what God said, it must be available. Let us find out more.

Philippians 4
:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

God said He'll supply all of our need. What do we need? I do encourage you to expand your thinking here, we are ambassadors for Christ (II Corinthians 5:20). What do you need to be a representative of God and live the more than abundant life? What do you need to live more abundantly. What do you need so that you can have to give? What do you need that shows forth the exceeding riches of His glory through Christ Jesus? We must align our need with God's Word.

So, God will supply whatever we need, but we must also desire those things.

Matthew 6
:8 . . . your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

The Greek word ask, aiteo, is also translated 'desire, crave, beg'. This is not just asking but desiring. There is a difference. God knows what we need before we even have the desire and then think to ask. God says He'll give us the desires of our heart.

John 14
:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you,
    He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
    and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask [aiteo] in my name,
    that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
:14 If ye shall ask [aiteo] any thing in my name, I will do it.

John 15
:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,
    ye shall ask [aiteo] what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
     and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit,
     and that your fruit should remain:
     that whatsoever ye shall ask [aiteo] of the Father in my name,
     he may give it you.

John 16
:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing.
    Verily, verily, I say unto you,
    Whatsoever ye shall ask [aiteo] the Father in my name,
    he will give it you.
:24 Hitherto have ye asked [aiteo] nothing in my name:
    ask [aiteo], and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

God's desire is to meet our needs. God knows what we desire prior to even asking.  Ask! We walk around with lack in our lives because we fail to take God at His Word. We no longer need to live with sickness, financial lack, disease, fear, guilt, and mental and emotional problems. Why do we go to the world for answers? We need to go to God, the creator of the heavens and earth, who is willing and able to meet all our desires, above what we could ask or think.

Matthew 5
:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness:
    for they shall be filled.

Psalms 107
:9 For he [God] satisfieth the longing soul,
    and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

When you get to the point in your life that you truly desire the good things of God and begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness (freedom from sin - going against God and His Word) you shall be (absolutely) filled. Start asking for, desiring the good things from God.

Matthew
:7  Ask, [aiteo] and it shall be given you;
    seek, and ye shall find;
    knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
:8 For every one that asketh [aiteo] receiveth;
    and he that seeketh findeth;
    and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
:9 Or what man is there of you,
    whom if his son ask [aiteo] bread,
    will he give him a stone?
:10 Or if he ask [aiteo] a fish,
     will he give him a serpent?
:11 If ye then, being evil,
    know how to give good gifts unto your children,
    how much more shall your Father
    which is in heaven
    give good things to them that ask [aiteo] him?

We learn several things here. When we ask, seek, and knock, God, who is our Father in heaven (and more benevolent and rich toward us than our earthly fathers), will give to us good things, give us knowledge and wisdom, and open doors for us. We must do the asking, seeking, and knocking.

Jesus Christ gave an example of asking, seeking, and knocking in Luke.

Luke11
:5 And he [Jesus Christ] said unto them,
   Which of you shall have a friend,
   and shall go unto him at midnight,
   and say unto him,
   Friend, lend me three loaves;
:6  For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me,
   and I have nothing to set before him?
:7 And he from within shall answer and say,
   Trouble me not: the door is now shut,
   and my children are with me in bed;
   I cannot rise and give thee.
:8 I say unto you,
   Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend,
    yet because of his importunity he will rise and
    give him as many as he needeth.
:9 And I say unto you,
    Ask, and it shall be given you;
    seek, and ye shall find;
    knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
:10 For every one that asketh receiveth;
    and he that seeketh findeth;
    and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

To understand the impact of this story we must know a bit of eastern culture at the time of Christ. When a guest showed up at your house you were obligated to offer him food. It was a disgrace if you could not, and that was a big deal. The man who had a friend show up late at night was in a tight spot, he had no food to offer his guest, and because it was late at night the markets were all closed. The man goes to his other friend and calls out asking for bread but the friend lets him know that this is a great inconvenience; the man is disturbing his family, and he is not going to get up and fetch him some bread. Yet, because of the man's importunity (shamelessness) and his persistence the friend will get up and get him the bread he asked for. The friend wouldn't get the bread for him because he was a friend but, because he shamelessly persisted. Then Jesus Christ said that we should ask and it shall be given unto us, seek and we shall find, knock and shall be opened unto us. Because everyone that asks receives and he that seeks will find and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. This example is given so we will come boldly before the throne and grace and keep asking, seeking and knocking until we receive. Persist, God is able and willing.

Now some of you are probably disagreeing with this statement or wanting to put all sorts of qualifiers or limitations on this, but what does God's Word say? Did He not just tell us to ask, seek, and knock? Did He say you can only do it if you are good enough? (No) Did He say you could receive if you were holy enough—well you are holy, God made you that way. You are His kid and He has given you the right and authority to come to Him asking, seeking, and knocking. God will not withhold anything good from you. Remember, we are ambassadors and Jesus Christ made a point that the purpose of his first coming was so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. What do you need in your life so that you can be an ambassador for Christ? Are you sick? You need healing! Are you in debt? You need delivered from it (God is able, it is not by your works you are going to get out of debt, give it to Him, trust, believe). Are you mentally or emotionally troubled? Get deliverance. God is willing and able, that is what Jesus Christ came for, to deliver God's people from the hand of the adversary. Do not remain in the adversary's clutches, you have been delivered; believe God to rise above. Christ defeated the adversary; stop accepting his lies of lack and sickness.

God will certainly provide all of our needs, we have seen that repeatedly. Delve into God's Word and align yourself with it, speak God's promises and unleash the power of His Word. He will give us all our needs, we need to know what they are.

James 4
:2 Ye lust, and have not:
    ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain:
    ye fight and war,
    yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss,
    that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

In these verses "ask" is the same Greek word aiteo meaning to desire. God's people are not receiving because they are not asking. We are not to lust (strongly crave) after things of this world but desire that which is good from God. We ask, not for our own pleasure (that ye may consume it upon your lusts (pleasure), but because we are of God, ambassadors, and we are promised the more than abundant life. In the book of James God was talking to those who were having strong intense cravings for things that they didn't need but lusted for, not only were they not a need but it was detrimental to them. God has told us that he wouldn't give us a stone for bread, how much more will He give us good things? It is up to us to balance our desires with the Word of God. Yes, we are to live life more than abundantly; it is up to God to supply it, let Him do His perfect Work. When we are lusting after things then we will be devising ways to obtain it ourselves, and we will be consumed.

Philippians 4
:19 But my God shall supply all your need
    according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

God will supply all our need when we desire them. The word "need" in the Greek is chreia, to be of service or use. What is of service or use that we may live victoriously in Christ Jesus? What is needed in your life so you may serve God in a greater way? God supplies! If anything is burdening you, you need to be rid of it, it is not of God. Some consider a need to be anything that sustains life, God says it is that which is according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

We need to get our needs and desires aligned with God's Word. We have been asking for far less than what is available and we haven't been persistent. We need to desire what God has made available to us, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus and then ask.