Is it wrong to wish for something?
"There is one thing we can be sure of when we come to God in prayer. If we ask anything in keeping with what he wants, he hears us" (1 John 5:14).
"So eat and drink and do everything else for the glory of God"
(1 Corinthians 10:31).
As Christians, it’s important for us to want what God wants.We’ve all wished for something at one time or another. Maybe you wanted a new bike, or you wished your hair looked more like your friend’s. Some of us have even bigger wishes, like wishing for our dad to get a job or for a new baby brother or sister.
Most of the time, we wish for something because it’s not something we could do or get on our own. Wishing is a strong desire, or want, for something we don’t have. But not all desires are bad! For example, if we desire that a friend would come to know Jesus or that a sick friend would get better, those are good things to want.
The problem with wishes starts when we turn to things like the stars to ask for our wishes to come true. When we "wish upon a star," we’re trusting in something that can’t hear us and doesn’t have the power to help us. Only God can hear our "wishes" when we pray to Him, and He’s the only one who has the power to do anything about them.
The other problem happens when we wish for, or desire, the wrong things. God wants only good for us, but that doesn’t always look the way we want it to. Sometimes "good" in God’s eyes means that we need to go through something tough so we can learn to trust Him more. Sometimes it means that God won’t give us what we want because He knows it won’t be good for us. But when our "wish" or desire lines up with what God wants, you can be sure we’ll get it if we ask Him for it!
