Qualified To Receive

Qualified to Receive

He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:5

DEEP DOWN, WE KNOW WE ARE UNWORTHY of receiving answers to our prayers. We’ve fallen short of God’s glory, and our desires and agendas haven’t always aligned with his will. We know that he doesn’t owe us a single thing; on the contrary, we are indebted to him. Why would he answer any petition at all?

Of course, none of this guilt is the point, no matter how genuine it is. God knowingly made promises to imperfect people, aware in advance that the redeemed would still fall short of his glory. We are in a lifelong process of being conformed to his image, and we don’t perfectly reflect him yet. Still, he fully intends to fulfill what he has said, based not on our faithfulness but on his (2 Timothy 2:13).

Even more, God has qualified us by giving us his Son’s righteousness. Jesus qualifies for God’s inheritance, and in him, we are coheirs of God’s promises. We’ve been cleansed of our sins and given a right standing and a new identity before God. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we’ve been adopted into the royal family, and God has no intention of disowning us or cutting us out of the will. Our own sense of unworthiness is irrelevant. Our sins have not disqualified us, even if they flared up again just yesterday. God has made us worthy with the gifts and identity he has given us. The faithful Father gives to the faithful Son, and we benefit by being related.

The idea that our sins and mistakes have disqualified us from receiving God’s answers is a lie. We can’t ask in faith and then depend on merit. Just as we are saved by grace through faith, we live and ask by grace through faith. It’s true that persistent rebellion can take us off course, distort our desires, and position us outside of God’s will, but that’s a matter of proximity, not qualification. Like the Prodigal Son, we are welcomed back, and we are even given the family inheritance. Ask from that identity and believe your answers will come.

Faith is extending an empty hand to God to receive his gift of grace.