There's a favourite phrase going among some Christians, saying "God will provide." I've heard this line so many times, and in fact I myself believe it to be true. While God does provide for all of us, including the good and the bad (see Matthew 5:45), there are times when this line isn't applicable.
Unconditional love, conditional giving
Many who don't know God simply declare that "God will provide," erroneously believing that God will give us what we ask for every single time we ask. Yes, He enjoys giving us what we pray for, but there are times when He doesn't give us what we request of Him.
Consider James 4:3, which says "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."
We simply can't say that God will provide what we ask for if we ask Him something with wrong, selfish motives. God's not a mythical genie who gives us whatever we ask for.
God's purposes
It's also wrong to declare that God will provide for us when we make the mistake of planning and pushing through with our plans without consulting God. Proverbs 19:21 says "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."
Knowing this, then, we should seek the Lord's will for us before planning and pushing through with our plans. We shouldn't go ahead of God. We just might end up paying for it, instead of enjoying it.
Proud declaration
It's also a mistake to declare that God will provide what we want arrogantly, as if He's the one who will bend to our demands. James 4:6 tells us that "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." We should all learn to live humble lives before the Lord.
Asking and receiving
Friends, God does provide, it's wrong to believe that He will give us what we want when we aren't even doing what He wants us to do. Jesus spoke of this truth in John 15:7, saying, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." We must learn to abide in God and His Word, allowing Him and His Word to shape our desires, so that when we ask anything of Him, He will do it for us.
