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WARNING: This blog has two leading ideas instead of one. It’s about reading the Bible and it’s about prayer. But I’m going to try to weave them together as best I can.

…Ye have not because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. James 4:3c-4

Earlier this week, a friend of mine asked me to give a presentation on the importance of reading the Bible on a consistent basis. Throughout the presentation, there were several recurring questions. One was about how to decide which version (translation may be a better word, but explaining the difference between the two would take an entire blog) of the Bible to read. Another was how different versions compare to each other. And another was how to determine if some versions are better than others.

The recurrence of those questions was a reminder to me of how often many of us shy away from reading the Bible on a consistent basis because we don’t understand what we are reading. Reading the Bible is hard enough. Reading it in words that we don’t understand makes it even harder. Luckily, there are a staggering variety of versions to choose from. I did a quick google search and discovered there are over 450 versions of the Bible in English. But I am not sure that helps LOL. Too many options can be overwhelming, especially if I don’t have enough information to evaluate the respective strengths and weaknesses of each option.

I had a great time discussing those questions, and was even asked to share my favorite versions (which are King James, The Amplified, The Message Bible). It also made me want to show you how reading the Bible in different versions can open your eyes to the amazing riches that are often concealed but can be unlocked with the help of a different version.

The verse from James cited above is one of my favorite scriptures. It’s a frightening thought to consider how many blessings God can’t give us because we don’t ask. Dr. Bruce Wilkerson shares an amazing story of a man who goes to heaven and sees a warehouse full of file cabinets with his name on them. He asks his angelic escort “what are all these cabinets? The angel replies “these are all of the blessings that God couldn’t give you because you didn’t ask!

Yikes!

We must ask. But then James goes on to tells us that sometimes we don’t receive the requests we make of God because we ask amiss, “so that we may consume it upon our lusts.” Now I’ll be honest with you. I read that verse for YEARS and really didn’t understand what it meant. Then one day, I was in prayer asking God why one of my prayers hadn’t been answered. I was led to read this same verse in the Amplified version. This is what it says:

You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask wrongly.with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires.

Double Yikes!!!

I remember apologizing to God after reading that same verse in the Amplified version. I already knew that what I was asking was coming from questionable motives, and was being inspired by “an unrighteous agenda.” My prayer wasn’t answered because I was on the wrong agenda.

See what a profound difference in understanding a different translation can make?

Now, more about unrighteous agendas.

But first, a question.

Who or what sets your agenda?

An agenda is a list of “things to be done, or matters to be acted upon.” Every meeting ought to have an agenda. In fact your LIFE ought to have an agenda. And certainly your PRAYER Life ought to have an agenda.

It makes absolutely no sense to go to the most powerful person in the universe without some idea of what you want. Having no agenda when we talk to God is foolish. Equally foolish is having a hidden agenda. Inasmuch as God knows everything, it’s probably not a good idea to conceal your true motives. Prayer is the heart’s “sincere” desire. It’s probably best to tell God what you really want, even if what you really want is….ummm….not the best. LOL.

But the best agenda to be on in life and in your prayer life is God’s agenda! This is why every Christian should end every prayer with the expression “not my will, but thine be done.” After every prayer request, I have learned to say “now God if you don’t want me to have this, I don’t want it.”

Oscar Wilde said there are two tragedies in life. The first is not getting what you want. The second is getting what you want. I’ve always thought that was pretty funny and the ugly truth. Sometimes we get what we want, only to discover that it wasn’t what we thought it was.

Let God set the agenda of your prayers. He knows best and can do “exceeding abundantly above all that you can ask or think.”

A solider once wrote this prayer:

I asked for strength that I might achieve; I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life, I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for but everything that I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered.

I am, among all men, most richly blessed.