Mark 10:35b “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

Should we expect our Lord to give us whatever we want?

I edited out the first part of Mark 10:35 in order to present this issue as a personal item without assumption of detail or experience. This is between you and your Lord, not you and me. I can only answer for myself.

While I would like to impart some sort of wisdom here, I cannot, not above anything that is already available to all of us in the bible. What I would like does not always meet God’s will and knowing that, I do not speak for Him, only for myself.

I have made some of the same mistakes as others, lacking the self-control required to do what is right in every situation. That makes me human. We are capable of making mistakes even with the best of intentions. That does not mean we should stop trying to do good.

I have prayed some of the prayers of David, but I am not David. I am not called to become King, so I should not expect the same results.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

That sounded like a really good prayer but I had no idea what God would put me through in order to cleanse this heart. If I was at least a little bit better the task of purging might not have been so painful. That is not to say it hasn’t been acceptable, just that the process is not finished.

My idea of clean falls far short of God’s concept, oops.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9

Faith that is not tested is the vanity of a willful mind that is not set on God’s promises.

I prayed that the Lord would make me the man He wants me to be. I have no right to complain about the results or what He had to do to get me here.