Counting On His Goodness!

Num 23:19

19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
NKJV

2 Tim 2:13

13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.
NKJV

My Comments:

The context of Numbers 22 tells the story on how King Balak of Moab; a heathen king, hires a soothsayer Balaam to curse the children of Israel, to prevent them from entering and slaughtering him and his people. Balaam attempts to do so, but ends up blessing them instead of cursing them.

However, in the midst of his prophesying, he (being Balaam) gives four descriptions of the nature of God in Numbers 23:19 that are extremely important to how we see Him in our coming to Him in prayer:

1. He does not lie.

The definition of a lie is to intentionally make a false statement that you yourself know is not true, with the intention of deceiving the person listening. God's nature is that of Truth. He will not go against His nature to deceive anybody with the objective of getting that person's heart in worship towards Him.

2. He does not repent.

The phrase 'to repent' could be rephrased as 'to change one's mind'. Thank God that He doesn't change His mind! If He did, we'd all be in serious trouble! What He decides on or purposes to do, He won't change His mind regarding it. If He decided to bless you, He won't change His mind on a whim and retract that blessing from you!

3. He does what He says.

When God says He will do something, you can count on His nature that He will do what He said He will do. The phrase 'Your word is your bond' applies to Him, because by doing so, He knows that we can have confidence in Him; that He will answer our prayers, and not just leave us hanging on a thread, wondering whether He'll do what He said.

4. What He says and does is always good.

This is basic theology that we must recognize if we want to have confidence in our Father; that what He says and does is always good. That He loves us and wants only the best for us. He is not the One who sends sickness, disease and natural disasters our way as an act of love! Jesus said that even as earthly fathers knew how to give good things to their children, how much more their Heavenly Father is able and willing to do so! [Matt 7:11, Luke 11:13]

How this applies to our prayer lives:

When you consider the above points, you have boldness to go to your Father for your requests, knowing that He won't lie to you, or that He'll change His mind. If He said He'll do it, you can stand on that promise knowing that it's already done! In fact, there are many promises in the Bible relating to whatever situation you find yourself in, whether it be related to finances, relationships, health, etc!

Not only that, He'll do what He said He'll do in His Word, and you know that it'll always be good! He won't send sicknesses, poverty or any other thing your way because what He does is always good! So just be bold to go before Him in prayer, knowing that your Father's always good!