“All You Need To Do Is Ask”

How many times has someone said this to you?  How many times have you given the cursory reply, “Oh, I didn’t want to bother you.”  How many times have we responded to God the same way? 

When a true friend says, “all you need to do is ask,” if it is within their power to do whatever is being asked, they will do it.  How much more will our Heavenly Father respond to our sincere prayers? 

Prayer is not merely getting things from God.  That’s maybe our starting point (asking to get), but prayer is so much more than asking.  In Luke 11:1, one of Jesus’s disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray.”  The disciples were men who were well-versed in Jewish prayer.  Surely, they had been taught how to “say prayers” from an early age.  However, prayer should always begin with relationship.  As we spiritually mature, prayer evolves from asking, into forming a relationship with God through His Son, Jesus.   

In relationship, we learn that the purpose of prayer is not to get our will done, but for God’s will to be accomplished.  Think about it this way.  Prayer is a cycle.  The cycle begins with God (relationship), then moves to the purposes of God (His will, not ours), then it moves to personal petitions (give us). 

I believe that’s why Jesus responded, “When you pray, say: our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us day by day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:2-3)  

When relationship is established, the Father’s ear is always open to our cries.  We have the promise of answered prayer in God’s Word.  All we need to do is ask. 

PRAYER:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.   For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.  (Matthew 6:9-13)