I’m Glad You Asked — Adam’s Angle

If you’re like me, you have times when you don’t want to bug God with your “minor” problems. Your car breaks down and you need $400 to fix it. Your back hurts. You’re a little lonely now that the kids have moved out. But no biggie, right?

The spiritual thing to do (we tell ourselves) is to tough it out and put on a stiff upper lip. We can endure. We can take care of it — somehow. God knows everything, so if He wants to fix things, He will. Why bother God by asking him for stuff?

Why? Because He tells us to. Spiritual people aren’t tight-lipped and stoic before God; truly spiritual people ask God for things in prayer.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Jesus tells the crowds gathered to hear the Sermon on the Mount to take an active role in approaching God: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. . . your Father in heaven (will) give good gifts to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:7, 11).

He wants us to take initiative. But why?

I don’t have the definitive answer, but I have a few guesses.

First, asking God for things in prayer gives us a chance to acknowledge our dependence on Him. Many of us think that self-sufficiency is a good thing. We pat ourselves on the back when we come up with solutions to our problems — or when we grit our teeth and endure by sheer willpower. But when we ask God, we humble ourselves. And when the solution comes, God gets the glory, not us.

Second, asking God gives us an opportunity to exercise trust in Him. Sometimes we may not ask because (Shhh! Don’t tell anyone) we don’t expect God to answer. It’s a lot easier to defend God’s good name if we don’t have a string of unanswered prayers to try to explain. But when we ask God in prayer, we’re giving Him the chance to answer. That takes faith.

Last, God has us ask Him for things in prayer so that we more fully appreciate His treasures. Prior to Jesus telling the crowd to ask, seek and knock he says, “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs” (Matthew 7:6). God protects what is truly valuable.

And we don’t value things that are easily gained: “An inheritance quickly gained at the beginning will not be blessed at the end” (Proverbs 20:21). God sends His rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. He gives good things to people all the time. But, when we ask God in prayer and receive answers, we are even more thankful because we don’t take His goodness for granted.

A Million Loopholes

But (you may say) when we ask God for things in prayer don’t we have to have faith (Matthew 21:22 and James 1:5-8)? And ask in Jesus’ name (John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24)? And have right heart motives (James 4:2-3)? And ask according to His will (1 John 5:14-15)? And isn’t it true that God said “no” to Jesus’ request in Gethsemane and to Paul’s request to have his thorn in the flesh taken away?

Granted. We shouldn’t treat God like a vending machine or ignore other passages of Scripture. But we should get over our fear, insecurity and pride so that we can come to God’s throne of grace to ask Him for even the “little things” rather than cutting Him out of the picture.

So if you’ve been trying to bottle in that “trivial” prayer request that you figured God could care less about, let it out and bring it to Him. You’ll be glad you asked, and so will He.

— Adam Pivec
7/19/08