The Powerful 350 V8 Engine

We have a Suburban with the powerful 5.7/350 motor. These motors have a reputation for both power and reliability. I love having that extra power to merge with traffic as I pull onto the interstate. As I step on the throttle, the engine roars and pulls the big SUV forward.
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Our minivan does not have the same potential, so when I utilize that V8 muscle, our boys take notice. Though they are not usually back seat divers, they occasionally scold me for speeding as they hear that “Chevy” roar. I explain is that I am not speeding and am not driving in a reckless manner. It is just that there is such a contrast in power that they take notice.
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God has even more power than the most aggressive big block motor. How often do we act like my little boys and try to hold back His power for fear that something bad will happen if His full force is released? In other words, do we really trust His power.
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Although God may chose to grant our requests as we pray, we do not have the authority nor the power to order Him around. My boys can appeal to the authority of the traffic laws as they speak to me about my driving, but God is the ultimate authority over all matters.
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When Jesus was asked about how to pray, He told His disciples to address God as our Father in heaven and to set apart His name. Then He spoke of God’s kingdom coming and told us to ask that God’s will be done. As we appeal to God in prayer, HIS will should be what we pray for. Let us not forget that He is so powerful that we cannot make Him do anything. In fact, we are reminded how powerful He is as Jesus teaches on prayer in Matthew 6:8 and says at the end of the verse, “for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Imagine if my Suburban knew when to accelerate before I even touched the pedal and knew when that time would occur before I had even decided what road to drive on.
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God is so powerful He knows what we need before we even ask for it. Still He wants us to ask. In the next chapter of Matthew Jesus says, "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 NASB).
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So why don’t Christians get whatever they ask for? God is powerful enough to know our needs before we even ask. That means He is also powerful enough to know what is best for us. Perhaps I want a new Suburban, but God knows that it is better that I keep my old one. Consider the very next verse in Matthew 7, “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:9)
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Further, if I asked for a new Suburban, it would be because I was greedy, not because I wanted God’s will to be done. James clarifies this, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3 NASB) My wife really likes our Suburban. Imagine if she was praying that we keep the old one and I was praying that we get a new one and we both believed our prayers would be answered and both of us were praying that we would only have one Suburban. This is not a problem, because our faith is not more powerful than God’s will. God knows what is best and we can trust whatever He decides.
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Think of it this way, if you ask for something in Jesus’ name and it is not God’s will, it is like forging His name without authority. God is far too powerful for us to always get our way instead of His. Trust His power and His will.