Have You Asked God For Anhything Today?

Have you prayed and asked God for something today? That might seem like a silly question, but it is not. Jesus tells us repeatedly to ask! Some examples are: "Ask and it will be given to you; " {Matthew 7:7}, "how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" {Matthew 7:11}, "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." {John 16:24}, and we read in James, "You do not have, because you do not ask God." {James 4:2b}.

These verses do bring up a serious question: "How come when I ask I do not get it?" Those verses do talk about ask and you will receive. There are also examples in Scripture of people praying and receiving: such as Jabez in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, Daniel in Daniel chapter 2, and the Jerusalem church in Acts 12:1-12.

The first part of the answer is that prayer is much more than giving God your wish list. Prayer also involves praise, thanksgiving, and obedience. You find those elements in Daniel's prayer in Daniel 2 and in the Lord's Prayer.

The second and bigger part of the answer is in what is behind many of our prayers. We also read in James, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." {James 4:3}. In other words we pray and ask selfishly. Selfishness and sin in general, derails our prayers to our Holy Father in heaven. Selfishness also blinds us to many of God's answers to our prayers. For example you desperately need transportation, but since God is providing a Chevy instead of a Porsche you think he did not answer your prayer.

Third, notice that Jesus says that our Father in heaven will give good gifts. God is much wiser than we are. Many times if we ask for something that he knows is not good for us, he withholds it. Just like as parents sometimes the wise and loving thing is to say no to our children's requests.

Finally, the fourth piece to the answer is that we are to pray "in Jesus' name." That does not mean to tack that phrase on to a prayer as a magic formula. It does mean we are to pray in accordance to Jesus' will and authority. This is not as mysterious as it sounds because many times the Bible tells us what God's will is. Other times as we pray and seek God, we find that our request changes into what he really wants.

After all of this remember; God really does want us to ask him and He really does want to give us good gifts! If you and I do ask Him with a pure heart seeking his will we will see some marvelous answers. Jabez, Daniel, and many others in the Bible asked and prayed this way and we can too.

Remember to look at some of these prayers in the Bible and then to pray asking your Father in heaven for his good gifts for you.

Written by Rev. Daniel B. Baker April 2003



Articles by Rev. Daniel B. Baker :: Webmaster: Joseph I. Baker