The Bible is full of exceedingly great and precious promises from God

(2 Peter 1:2-4). He constantly watches over His word, ready to perform it in our lives (Jeremiah 1:12). God hears us when we pray – every time.   

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. 1 John 5:14,15

Notice the word “confidence” in this passage. We should be confident that when we pray, we’re going to get answers. Let’s be honest here. For so many Christians, the surprise isn’t when we don’t get our prayers answered, but when we do! Their lack of confidence comes from a history of unanswered prayer. Why? Why is it such a struggle sometimes to get answers? Why are so many believers repeatedly frustrated in their prayer closets? Their constant cry to God is Why God why? When God when? There are four key words in this promise which help us understand this repetitive situation, and we would be wise to take note of them. They are “according to His will”. In other words, make sure your desires in prayer line up with God’s desires for you, and be sure you’re not in rebellion to His perfect will for your life when praying.     

Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalms 37:4  

Delighting ourselves in the Lord means living a life that is pleasing to Him, according to His standards, not ours. Therefore, it means we stay clear of a lifestyle of spiritual rebellion through disobedience and sin. That opens a door to the devil and handcuffs the Lord, plain and simple. We should never grieve the Holy Spirt, but many times we do (Ephesians 4:30). Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23), and many times we’re in rebellion and don’t realize we are. An example of this can be found in the Old Testament, when God called out the Jews for the sin of robbing Him with their finances. When God pointed it out, they were surprised at the accusation

(Malachi 3:8-12). We’re responsible for finding God’s will for us collectively and personally. Some of His desires for you will be different than His desires for me because we’re individuals with different personalities called to do different things in different places. But there are some things that He desires for every Christian, no matter who or where or when.   

In part two of this study, we’ll continue examining the ways we limit God with the choices we make. We covered three of the prime suspects in part one, and today we’ll study one more. By His choice, God has chosen to limit Himself to partnership with us on earth. I’ve heard people say that God can do anything. No, He can’t. His Word clearly teaches that we can either empower or limit God in our lives. He will never override our free will. Our opening text is one that declares this truth, so how can that happen? How can we limit God?   

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2.

We limit God with limited thinking. His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts They are higher than ours, by default (Isaiah 55:8,9). That doesn’t mean we can never attain to His way of thinking. If that were true, it would be pointless to tell us to renew our minds and transform the way we think. In truth, we need to be in sync with God by renewing our minds. That allows Him to get involved in our lives, to fulfill those exceedingly great and precious promises He has put in His word. Proverbs 23:7 tells us we are what we think we are. That’s true whether people know it or not, believe it or not. As we think in our hearts, so we are. 

For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16

 If the Bible says Christians have the mind of Christ, then we do, whether or not we understand how to live in the light of it. This isn’t a specific heavenly plea for purified thinking, although that’s certainly a part. More than that, having and allowing the mind of Christ to become our default mode of thought expands our mental boundaries. Our thinking becomes limitless, and statements like this become real and attainable: all things are possible to him who believes (Mark 9:23).  I’m thinking of Caleb, one of my Old Testament favorites, as somebody who actually believed His God could do whatever needed to be done. If you recall, in Numbers 13 and 14, twelve hand-picked leaders were sent by Moses into the Promised Land to spy out the territory, and return with their intelligence report. When they did, 10 out of the 12 gave what the Bible calls an evil report of unbelief

(Numbers 13:32/14:37/Hebrews 3:12). They paid for that mistake with 40 years of wandering, one year for each day they spied out the land - until each one over 20 years old died off. But the two who gave the good report of faith, Joshua and Caleb, went in and took possession as God promised. They had to wander for decades in the desert with all the unbelievers before they went in, but went in they did (see Joshua 14). Listen to what Caleb told the Jews when he gave his initial report to Moses:

Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it”. Numbers 13:30. Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them”. Numbers 14:9.

Yes, the cities were fortified with high walls. Yes, the giants occupied all of those cities. Yes, the Jews looked like grasshoppers comparatively. But… they had a covenant with God and Caleb knew it! So instead of thinking wrong thoughts about how they would be wiped out by the enemy, he was thinking the right thoughts about how quickly they could confront their enemies and defeat them. Years later, David thought the same way when he killed the giant Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Go read about all the times God showed up in the Old Testament, miraculously interjecting Himself in the lives of His chosen people. Well, has He retired? I’ve been told by some ignorant Christians that the days of miracles have passed. Really? Who said so? Some dummy who can’t read? My Bible tells me we have a better covenant based upon better promises (Hebrews 8:6). So, now more than ever, if I want to tap into God’s power in ways beyond my ability to understand – I just need to let the mind of Christ have its way in me and through me. It works the same for you.

Second Corinthians 4:4 says Satan blinds the minds of those who don’t believe. Although the context there is speaking about unbelievers, it can refer to believers as well. Many born-again Christians have blinded minds when it comes to what God can do, and what He wants to do for us in this life. That’s why the Word of God tells us to transform our thinking through the renewing of our minds. Philippians 4:8 gives us specific parameters to follow. We’re told to think on certain things, and refuse to think on anything else. Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things.   

In Joshua 1:8, God told Joshua to meditate in the Word of God day and night, so he would be able to do all that is written within. Only then would he become prosperous and successful. Those same instructions apply to us today. Until we decide to renew our minds to the Word of God, the devil will have unlimited access to ruin our lives in any way he chooses. Think about that. If you give Satan an unrenewed mind to play with, he will! How do you prevent this from happening? The Bible gives us clear instructions.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity, to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Notice this in our opening passage from Psalms. The people of God didn’t just offend God occasionally. They limited Him again and again. In this case, they were limiting Him over and over with an undisciplined thought life. Multitudes of believers do this today. We should be diligent daily, monitoring our thoughts. The minute the devil tries to infiltrate our minds with lies, we cast them down. According to the Bible, the devil seeks to create a mental stronghold in our minds, but he can’t create that stronghold until he creates a foothold. That’s where we must be vigilant. Don’t let unrestricted lies float around in your head. Follow the example of Jesus when tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-10). Each time the devil tried to plant a lie in our Lord’s mind, He countered by speaking out loud the Word of God that negated the lie. This is how we imprison thoughts and take them captive. We don’t let the devil’s lies run amok in our minds. We renew our minds to control our thinking, and keep our heads clear and focused on God and God alone. And remember, today’s victory doesn’t guarantee tomorrow’s. Again and again the Jews tempted God and limited His abilities on their behalf. Don’t limit God! Renew your mind today, and like what God told us in Joshua 1:8, meditate in the Word of God day and night.  Do that, and instead of failing God again and again, we’ll be triumphant in Christ again and again. Its your choice!