"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3 who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4 And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said 'Look at us.' 5 So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them." Acts 3:1-7 NKJV
It is very important to ask for what you need and not what you want. Some may pray to win the Lottery and have no more worry problems. However, it is doubtful that this prayer will be answered as it is a want and not a need. On the other hand, if they were to pray that they be healed from a particular ailment, this is asking for a need - a need to healed.
If we look closely at this scripture, you will see that the lame man was sitting at the Gate Beautiful asking for alms. He had to live that is true and the only way he could raise money was to beg. In verse 4, he fixed his eyes on Peter and John, expecting to receive some coins. It can be argued that this was a need; he had to eat. To a degree, this was true. Yet, he was missing the real reason he was sitting there begging. He was disabled, unable to walk and therefore, unable to get a decent job. But it was still a 'want'. His 'need' was to be healed so that he could function and earn a living.
Ask yourself, 'What was better for him, to be given some cash or, to be healed? Of course, to be healed from this disability that had plagued him all of his life, would be totally fulfilling and life-changing. He would be able to do everything that he had ever dreamt about. It couldn't have been easy seeing everyone doing their own thing and him having to be carried everywhere.
It is noticeable, that when a person has been ill for a very long time, that they become used to it and can't envisage things changing. I remember a lady who had a back complaint that caused her great pain. My wife and I offered to pray for her healing and she totally refused explaining that, if she was healed she would lose all of the financial benefits she received each week. This was a classic example of hanging on to sickness because change would cause difficulty.
This man was probably no different. It was all he knew and it was difficult to believe that his need - his health, was more important than his want. What about you? Have you got needs? Are you sure they are not wants? Don't get me wrong, Jesus is interested in both. His Word tells us: 'The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.' However, we can't ask and expect everything we want. Otherwise we would all be living in great mansions and driving a Rolls Royce. We need to avoid greed and concentrate on need and when we do, God will ensure that we are blessed with what we want - His idea of what we want ( a blessing).
Copyright 2023 Grahame Howard.
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