You are not God. Why "name it and claim it" is heresy.

I'm sorry, but we do not have the power to "speak things into existence." We are not God. (We have His power in us, but...we are VERY human. We cannot create things with our words, unfortunately...actually....fortunately. That's scary.)

Hi, welcome to my blog. lol

These days I've noticed a "MY will be done" as opposed to a "THY will be done." It gets passed off as "speaking with faith." But today I'm going to dive into why that concept is damaging to believers and disrespectful to God.

PRAY WITH HUMILITY. Pray knowing WHO you are talking to.

How come some people throw out the "Thy will be done" part of the prayer Jesus models for us? I hear a lot of prideful, demanding prayers.

This is where people will say "well, the verse finishes as 'on Earth as it is in Heaven' and therefore means that if we will something GOOD, it must happen."

Or even that if our hearts are "right" (even though it's deceitful--Jeremiah 17:9), then we will be granted whatever we ask.

What about Jesus in the garden right before He was to be killed?

"And [Jesus] went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.'” Matthew 26:39

This is a member of the Trinity communicating with another member of the Trinity. Jesus was perfect and blameless. He had plenty of faith. He has modeled for us how to pray and how to have right relationship with the Father AND Himself. So in the midst of his perfect prayer posture, how come he still went to the cross?

There is another moment where Jesus is telling the disciples of the suffering he must face. Look at how STRONGLY Jesus responds to Peter's "name it and claim it" moment, where he tries to speak another outcome into existence.

"From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

It's a little bit jarring to see how when speaking out of pure human emotion with no regards for what God may be trying to do through a trial, how offensive that is to God. Just see how Peter gets called Satan. WOWZA.

REAL faith is believing and trusting in God and His plan when the answer is no.

When you can't see a miracle. When there's silence back.

Real faith is pointing back to God in the midst of a trial.

Let's dive into the "it's always God's will to heal" concept.

First of all, I know plenty of God-fearing, mighty warriors of the Kingdom, who have died from their ailments. My grandmother and great-aunt both had illnesses that ended up taking them to Heaven a little quicker, but that has nothing to do with the faith level of them OR their husbands, or the other family and people around them. Matthew 17:20 says all you need is faith the size of a mustard seed, after all.

Paul left Trophimus, a 7 year old companion, sick. Another friend, Epaphroditis, was sick to the point of death when they left him. I bet Paul did pray over them. But it was not God's will to heal. Paul is only human, after all.

And Timothy, Paul's mentee, was told to mix wine with water to help his stomach problems. Not everything gets miraculous healing and that is OKAY.

--Side note, if God does move you to help do something miraculous (one time I was in a church service and I got a vision of me praying for healing for a friend's knee and in the vision it was healed, so I went up and told him to go get prayer for his knee, and it was healed), BE NORMAL ABOUT IT. The theatrics are unnecessary. If God is moving, He doesn't need a dramatic performance of it. Just had to throw that in there.

It's so much less pressure when you know that GOD has the power to heal. He has the power to perform miracles. You do not have the power to create things with your words....no matter how cool that sounds. This post IS talking more about the healing side of this "movement," but it applies to pretty much anything else including jobs and material possessions.

If JESUS HIMSELF says "Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." (John 5:19) but you think that you can do ANYTHING that YOU yourself will...it's time for a humbling.

God is constant and He is our confidence. Stop putting the pressure on yourself to be God.

James 4 talks about making plans left and right with no regard for God, and talks extensively on humbling ourselves... it says "Instead, you ought to say, 'If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil." v. 15

I COMMAND THIS BOSS TO GIVE ME A RAISE IN THE NAME OF JESUS. That is not at all what that is supposed to look like.

It's always amazing to pray things that line up with the Bible. Pray things humbly, though. James 5:15 says "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up."

Notice it doesn't say YOU will raise them up. It's the Lord.

Just like with everything else, even spiritual gifts are according to God's will. 1 Corinthians 12:13 says "All [previously listed spiritual gifts] are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines."

As GOD determines, not as WE determine.

Paul in 2 Corinthians 12 shares how God told him that His grace is sufficient for him.

Why is it that we feel so entitled then, to have Heaven right here and now, when that's our end goal?

Rest in God's grace. It is more than enough.

Stop demanding.

Start humbly giving thanks for what you have.