When Desire Outpaces Maturity
September 28, 2026
Why God Forms Us Before He Expands Us
Many of us pray for increase. We ask God for more favor, more blessing, more open doors, more influence, more provision. There is nothing wrong with those prayers. Scripture invites us to ask boldly, reminding us that our Father is generous and attentive to His children (Matthew 7:7–11). Yet what we often fail to consider is whether our inner life has the maturity to sustain what our lips are requesting. God is not only listening to what we ask for—He is discerning what we are ready to carry.
God’s dealings with humanity reveal a consistent pattern: formation precedes expansion. Before David wore a crown, he learned faithfulness in obscurity, tending sheep and trusting God in hidden places (1 Samuel 16–17). Before Joseph ruled in Egypt, he was refined through betrayal, waiting, and unjust imprisonment, where God matured his character long before He fulfilled the promise (Genesis 37–41). Scripture affirms this principle clearly: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6). Exaltation has a due time, and that timing is often connected to maturity, not desire.
Many delays we interpret as God withholding are actually expressions of His wisdom and love. A blessing received without the maturity to steward it often becomes a burden rather than a gift. Proverbs warns us that “wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it” (Proverbs 13:11). What is true financially is also true spiritually. Increase that outpaces character eventually exposes immaturity. God is not punishing us by waiting—He is protecting us from collapse.
At times, God even allows us to receive what we ask for before we are ready, not to bless our immaturity, but to reveal it. Israel desired a king like the nations around them, and though God warned them, He allowed it, knowing it would expose the condition of their hearts (1 Samuel 8). The result was pressure, insecurity, and compromise. What we think will validate us often reveals us. Scripture reminds us that “the testing of your faith produces perseverance” (James 1:3). Without testing, maturity remains theoretical.
God is deeply concerned with who we are becoming. Jesus taught that faithfulness in small things precedes authority over greater things: “Whoever is faithful in very little is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10). We often pray for the “much” while neglecting the “little” God is using to shape us. Waiting seasons, unanswered prayers, hidden obedience, and quiet faithfulness are not wasted time—they are the soil where maturity takes root. Jesus Himself “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52), showing us that even divine calling unfolds through development.
True maturity reshapes how we pray. Over time, our prayers move from demanding outcomes to seeking alignment. We begin to pray not just for doors to open, but for hearts to be strengthened; not just for increase, but for capacity. Paul understood this when he prayed that believers would be “strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner being” (Ephesians 3:16), before speaking of fullness and abundance. God expands what is already stable. He pours new wine into vessels that have been prepared to hold it (Luke 5:37–38).
When maturity and blessing finally meet, the result is peace rather than pressure, stewardship rather than striving, and fruit that remains rather than fleeting success. “The blessing of the Lord makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it” (Proverbs 10:22). God’s timing ensures that what He gives does not destroy what He is forming. He is more interested in who we become than in what we receive—because who we are is what sustains what He gives.
