Matthew 22:23-33

Matthew 22:23-33 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Here comes the Sadducees, convinced they can outsmart God.  They've come up with this convoluted situation that is so complex that they think they know the only way out, and they're proud of themselves for being so clever.  They come before Jesus, certain that he will acknowledge their cleverness and that they'll come out looking brilliant here.
  Jesus, however, doesn't cooperate. 
  When we come before God with pre-formed ideas of exactly what God is going to do, we're putting things in the wrong order.  It's easy to spend a lot of time developing a scenario of what we think will be best -- and then we go tell God exactly how to answer our prayers.  In that case, we're really just telling God how brilliant our ideas are and asking him to agree with us.
  What we forget is that God sees a much bigger picture than we do, and God often has different goals for us. God wants us to grow into the abundant and eternal life that God has in store for us.  God wants us to learn how to be faithful, and God knows what we need better than we do.  Our motives are often a mixed bag of wanting to be faithful but also having our sinful desires mixed in with our wants. 
  So when God hears our prayers and doesn't answer them exactly how we want, it doesn't mean that God isn't listening or doesn't care.  God has a different perspective and is calling you into the life that is truly life, and so we trust in God to care for us and lead us into the places that best shape us for eternal faithfulness.