We all have needs.
We all turn to God for helping us in our needs.
We are also encouraged to come to God through the Word:
Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. [Matthew 11:28-30 KJV]
God is our source that can supply our every need, and in Christ, we are able to obtain all that we have need of.
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
[Philippians 4:19 NKJV]
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. . [Ephesians 1:3 NKJV]
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. [Hebrews 4:16 NKJV]
You will find in your search to have your needs met, God is not always open to give your needs in what you may think is a timely manner. We ask, we seek and we pray; looking for guidance and ways to get our needs met while still remaining "IN HIS WILL"; and yet time goes by and the needs are not met.
So How do we get our needs met when it seems God is not answering?
If God is our supply, and He is our resource, then how does one touch God in such a way He will supply the need at the time we have need?
The problem is not God's ability to meet the need,
He can do all things!
He is all powerful.
He is all knowing.
He is all present.
He is all in all.
So if God is not the problem with getting our needs met, what is the problem?
The context of your inquiry for help could be the problem with getting your needs met.
In Numbers Chapter 20 the children of Israel came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month of their third year since they had left Egypt.
They had already gone through the process of sending in the spies to search out the land and rejected God's command to go in and take the land. [Numbers Chapter 3]
They had already experienced God providing them with their daily needs by giving them the manna to sustain them. [Exodus Chapter 16]
The had already experience God supplying them with water through the rock at Massah and Meribah. [Exodus 17:6-7]
They had already received the Ten Commandments and the beginnings of the Law. [Exodus Chapter 20]
They had already experienced the rebellion led by Korah and the event of Aaron's rod budding to show who was true leaders over the tabernacle. [Numbers Chapters 16 and 17]
And now they have come to Moses and Aaron because there was no water.
Out of rage Moses strikes the rock twice and God becomes so angry with Moses he is not allowed to enter the promised land. So why was Moses so angry and what went wrong?
The Bibles says they the people "gathered together against Moses and Aaron." [Numbers 20:2]
That "the people contended with Moses." [Numbers 20:3]
I am sure God was not against giving them water because He had already been giving them water through the rock as seen in Exodus Chapter 17.
I am also sure God was not against them asking for water. So what was the problem?
The problem was they came asking accusing Moses and Aaron that they had brought them all into the wilderness to die with their animals [Numbers 20:3-5]. In their complaint they were not just blaming Moses and Aaron for their problems, they were blaming God. And to make matters worse, they are demanding Moses and Aaron had taken them away from the good food and water of Egypt, as if it was not a good thing to be gone from Egypt.
When Moses was rehearsing this event with Israel in Deuteronomy 6:16, he warned them they would not tempt the Lord their God as they did in Massah. The word tempt used here is nacah, pronounced
nas-sah. It means to prove, tempt, try, or attempt to take by force or by making an effort. This shows us the reason God was so upset with Israel asking for water. They were trying to make God give them water as though they were entitled to it. God will never respond favorably to anyone who makes demands for His goodness or blessings. He spoke through the prophet Ezekiel and told the elders of Israel, "Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you." [Ezekiel 20:3 NKJV] God will not be demanded upon.
Those who would make demands upon God are not people of faith, but they live in complete doubt and unbelief. Those who feel they are entitled to something from God because they have faith in Him are not living in faith but unbelief and dought. God requires faith and patience that will allow Him to do things His way.
In Malachi 3:10 God used another word that means to tempt, but it means to test, examine or prove as a means of receiving comfort or relief:
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And prove Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not [be room] enough to receive it. [Malachi 3:10 NKJV]
Prove here is the Hebrew word bachan, pronounced ba-khan. God was telling the corrupt priests that they should "prove Him", by placing their tithe into the storehouse. God wanted them to prove Him, test him, because they would then be doing what was right and following God's will, not their own. He then promised a blessing so large they could not contain it, which follows when we do things the way God wants and we prove him.
When people will approach God in humility and faith, believing; then God will respond with His will, proving to be blessings one cannot contain.
If people approach God with demands of entitlement it does not allow God's will to bring blessings because God will not be demanded upon.
People of faith should never feel entitled because they believe. We have faith in God because of what God has done through Jesus Christ, not because we have done some marvelous thing where now God has to hear us.
We are not entitled we are promised through Jesus Christ.
But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in the heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in [His] kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. [Ephesians 2:4-9 NKJV]
Many times our need exists out of our own doubt and unbelief.
When Israel made demands upon God, blaming His servants, and blaming Him for their condition, they found themselves in great need. After all, had they followed the will of God to go in and take the land as God had commanded them, they would not have still been in the wilderness and they would not have had a water problem.
Faith and Patience will bring Comfort and Relief.
When Jesus was in the wilderness the tempter came to him, which was the devil, to tempt him [Matthew 4:1,3]. The word tempt and tempter used here is the same. It is the Greek word peirazo, pronounced peer-rah-zo. It means the same as the Hebrew word used in Deuteronomy 6:16; which is to prove, tempt, try, or attempt to take by force or by making an effort.
The Septuagint is the Old Testament translated into Greek. One of the things I love about having the Septuagint is a word used in the New Testament can be compared to words used in the Old Testament. The Septuagint shows the word tempt used in Deuteronomy 6:16 and in Matthew 4:1,3 as the same Greek word, peirazo.
This same word is used four times in James 1:13:
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. [NKJV]
What is meant by "God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone" is because God does not use this form of trying or testing, but Satan does. Satan tries to make you do his will by force [2Timothy 2:26], but God does not make you or tempt you to do his will. Instead, God commands us to carry out His will. This peirazo is the evil form of tempt or test for the purpose of forcing someone to do something. God cannot be forced nor does he force anyone.
God tries or tests us for the purpose of bring about His will which gives us comfort and relief. We see this in the Hebrew word bachan as used in Malachi 3:10, translated try or prove. In the Septuagint this word is episkeptomai, pronounced epee-skept-o-my; which means to look upon or visit for the purpose of bringing comfort or relief.
We can see the deep meaning of this word by looking at Matthew 25:36.
35. . . for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36. I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me. [Matthew 25:35-36 NKJV].
Jesus was explaining the significance in the parable of the talents as he continued illustrating how the faithful will inherit the kingdom of heaven. He demonstrated proving ones faithfulness to Him by doing these things Jesus was pointing out. To visit the sick and those in prison is looked at as being compassionate and faithful to God. The word visited here is the Greek word episkeptomai: to visit for the purpose of bringing comfort or relief, which takes place when you visit the sick and imprisoned.
When we approach God for our needs it should be with this same compassion.
We should be approaching God in order that we might comfort Him and bring Him relief.
When a little child goes to their father, climbs up into his lap, snuggles with him and tells him how much they love him; the father is moved by the compassion of the child, and the father and child is comforted. The father can only gain complete relief from the comfort of this child by giving to the child's need. This is because when love is given it must give back or the circle of love is not completed.
After the child has loved on their father, He will notice on the child's face there is a need. As Daddy looks into the eyes of this child he sees something is bothering them, or they are needing something that can only be met by the father. He senses this by his fatherly omniscience.
So Daddy asks, "What is it that you need? What is wrong?
The child then looks into their Daddy's eyes and shares their need.
Not because they came desiring the need to be met, but because they came desiring their Daddy's love.
The child tried to solve their need, but it has not been met.
Because Daddy is the one that can help them beyond their own abilities, the child shares their need with their loving Daddy.
Out of compassion and love to the child, Daddy takes care of their problem with great joy.
Psalm 35:27 says, "Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, 'Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.' "
There are two kinds of children in the Kingdom of God.
1. Children that feels entitled.
They continuously complain everything is wrong.
They will tell the parent all the parent's wrongs.
They will tell the parent how they were wronged by the parent.
2. Children that are humble and grateful.
They honor, love and respect their parents.
They will do the things of their parent because they want to please them out of love.
They will do things before they are asked because it needs done.
They never cast blame.
The child that brings joy to the parents are those who are humble and grateful.
This is the child that will grow up to be something in the world.
They will excel and be a blessing to their families, their schools, their communities.
These children will be looked at as successful in the kingdom of heaven.
The Grateful Child will Let the Father Solve the Need.
If the Daddy is a loving man, he tells the child he will solve the need.
Out of faith and trust in Daddy, the child snuggles back into Daddy's love because they know Daddy can do what he has said he will do.
The child trusts him because Daddy has proven [episkeptomai; prove me says the Lord] he will solve the problem.
Daddy sets out to solve the problem but it is not in the manner the child thought it should be done, but trusting and loving Daddy, the child is overwhelmed with joy because his problem is solved.
There was no doubt,
There was no fear,
There was not complaining,
Only great love and joy because Daddy solved the problem.
Too often people of faith with approach God as the child of entitlement; making demands and blaming God for either not meeting their need in a timely manner or not meeting the need in the way they though it should be done.
We who walk in faith should approach our Heavenly Father with love, adoration and wonder as it is expressed in Psalm 35:27:
"Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, 'Let the LORD be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.' "
. . try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. [Malachi 3:10 NKJV]
PRAYER
Help us Oh Lord, to be a people of faith, trust, and love, because you are worth and we love you!
May we establish in our hearts that you are the answer to all our needs!
May we trust you to fill our needs according to your riches in glory by Christ Jesus!
And may we have patience to wait for your will to be done in all things! In Jesus Christ name, Amen!