James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

As we can see, our motives play a major factor in determining if we receive something from God. If our motives are wrong (selfish, boastful, prideful), our requests will not be granted. We may think we have the correct motives but, God knows our heart.

That’s why it’s so important to communicate and have a great relationship with God. If a desire enters our minds, we can go before the Lord and request that desire. Immediately after making our requests, we can ask God to remove any motive that’s not pleasing to Him. When we ask God to remove any displeasing motives, we’re giving God access to fulfill a promise in our lives. The promise we allow God to fulfill in our lives is the promise of God uprooting every thing (selfishness, pridefulness, etc.) He did not plant (Matthew 15:13).

By allowing God to remove unwanted motives, we position ourselves to receive everything our hearts desire and we become more Christ-like in our mindsets, attitudes, and behaviors.

-Subscribe to everydaygodswill.com