Expanded Territory

“…You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires” (James 4:2-3).

God is not a Christmas list God. We can’t hand Him a list of everything we want and expect Him to deliver our every request. God is not a Santa Claus figure who gives us good gifts when we’re good. Rather, He gives us good gifts when we need them, and only He knows what is truly good.

Last week, we discussed how we often think too small for what God has planned for us. It’s more important to seek the Giver rather than the gifts, but God is also looking for people who would ask Him, “Lord, what do You want to bless me with?” God loves to bless His children, but we are often too focused on waiting to get what we want that we miss what He truly wants to bless us with.

We need Him to expand our territory. It’s so easy for us to get caught up in our idea of what our blessing should be, but what if God isn’t just saying “Wait?” What if there’s something more that He’s trying to show us, and He’s waiting for us to give up control and receive what He’s trying to give us?

If you were out in the middle of the ocean drowning and you prayed in earnest that a lifeboat would come along, would you refuse a rescue if God sent in a helicopter instead? Of course not. You would be rescued nevertheless even if it wasn’t by boat.

We live our lives like this all the time. We pray for one thing, but God is trying to show us more. He can still send the lifeboat if He sees fit—God blesses however He wants to—but we shouldn’t be so focused on our lifeboat that we forget to look up and see what else He’s trying to give us.


Could we be children who don’t just tell God what we want but instead be children who ask Him what He wants us to have? Could we be children who ask for Him to bless us however He sees fit rather than giving Him a list of our wants and sitting back waiting for gifts to fall from the sky?

Would we say, “Lord, bless me the way you want to bless me?” We need Him to expand our territory and our horizons so that we see farther than what we see right now. There are blessings hovering above us that we haven’t even noticed. We just need to look up and see what He’s doing.