Something's Coming

I can't remember if I've ever talked about this on my blog or not, but I've had a bit of trouble recently understanding the power of prayer versus the sovereignty of God.  This past week, I had something very specific that I wanted God to provide.  Phil. 4:6 says, "In every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God;" and James 4:2 says, "You do not have, because you do not ask God."  I don't want to be the one who has not because she asked not.  And yet I want God's will to be done, fully realizing that my limited understanding may cause me to ask for something that is not God's best for me.  So I ask, passionately wanting what I'm asking for and yet trying also to hold loosely to it in the case that it is not God's will for me.
But then I wonder how can we can truly fervently pray for something and hold loosely to it at the same time?  Am I then the one who prays without faith, the one James warns us about: "But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1:6).  In the midst of this tug-of-war in my heart, God gave me an incredibly timely word from a book I've had for two years and just now started to read:

"Beloved, the God we serve is able (Dan. 3:17).  Everything is possible (Mark 9:23).  Nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).  We can always hope and pray diligently for a miracle.
If, in God's sovereignty, He chooses to accomplish His purposes another way, let it not be that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2) or that we have not because we believed not (Matt. 9:29).
Second Corinthians 1:20 tells us that 'no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.'  Christ gave His life so God could say yes to the fulfillment of His promises in the lives of believing mortals.  Therefore, I am utterly convinced that anything an earnestly seeking child of God receives from the throne is for the sake of a greater yes, whether realized on earth or in heaven.  A present-active-participle believer will see miracles, all right.  Sometimes the greater miracle may be abundant life, redemption, ministry, and exceeding harvest after a 'no' we felt we wouldn't survive.  If you dare to believe and you don't get your miracle, God has a greater one planned.  Stay tuned" (Beth Moore, A Taste of Believing God).

Reading this felt like God was speaking out loud to me. How exciting to be able to pray for the good I desire for myself and yet rest in the fact that if God doesn't answer this prayer with a "Yes," He has something better planned!  I am reminded of 1 Cor. 2:9: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."  If I am asking for the best thing I can imagine and God answers with a "No," He has something better coming, something my mind has not even imagined yet!  Wow!  What an amazing and wholly good God we serve!

P.S. Bonus points if you caught the West Side Story reference in this post's title.  :)