Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. John 14:13-14
Years ago when the Miss America Pageant was at its zenith, one of the most popular questions asked of the contestants was, “If you could have anything you want, what would it be?” The most popular answer was, “World Peace”. That answer would certainly fit our situation in today’s world!
We are dealing with the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and seeing horror stories of what those people are enduring. How far will people go for the sake of power, wealth, narcissism, and control? We are experiencing some of the same problems with crime, inflation, fear, hatred, and lack of compassion for our fellow man right in our own country and neighborhood. It’s hard to believe the world around us has come to this.
With those thoughts in mind, if we change that question above to fit a Christian’s thought process it would be, “If you could ask God for anything, what would it be?” I think we would all agree, we would like to feel at peace not only with the world, but with so many things life seems to throw our way.
The question is, why don’t we ask God for help with those things that are causing us so much pain and sorrow? The story is told of a Father and daughter who were out for a walk. The little girl’s shoe strings needed tying, and the Father admonished her to please tie her shoe before she tripped. Inadvertently, the little girl became so frustrated in trying to tie her shoe that tied it in a knot. As her father watched, she tried in vain to get that knot out of her shoe in order to retie it. The more she tried, the worse it got until she was in tears. Her father was standing right over her, why didn’t she ask him for help? Why not just look up and ask him to help tie her shoe rather than going through all that distress?
Asking is really a basic part of our life. It is defined as saying something in order to receive an answer, permission, or information. If we don’t ask questions of others about their background, their hobbies, their likes and dislikes, or their faith, then we will never truly know them. It’s the same with God, if we don’t ask, we will never know what kind of Father He is to us. Asking is the way we learn. If we don’t know we can ask God, we are going to settle for trying to work things out on our own.
We tend to forget to ask God daily what He would have us do with our day. Even the disciples were guilty of not asking God for His advice. The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle Jesus performed which is recorded in all four gospels. There are minor differences, but all the gospels are similar on the occurrence.
Jesus had withdrawn to a solitary place, but the crowds from the surrounding towns followed him. The Bible says, “He had compassion on them and healed their sick.” Evening was coming, and because the place was so remote, there was no food. The disciples had an easy answer, “Send them away to a remote village and let them buy food for themselves.” None of them ever asked Jesus if He could in some way feed the crowd. They even argued with him when He told them to feed the crowd. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, gave thanks, and broke the loaves. The number of people fed that evening were five thousand. The basics of believing is knowing that we can just ask God.
First, be specific when you ask God for something and ask in Jesus’ name. Even though God already knows what you need and want, He wants us to ask. When we are specific, the bond between our Savior and ourselves becomes stronger. F. B. Meyer says, “It is much better to claim a few specific things than to make twenty vague requests. “
Next, trust that God that will act according to His will, and continue to praise Him while He’s working. If you don’t believe God has heard your prayer and is acting, the prayer loses power.
Finally, be patient. God’s timeline is not ours. Remember, there is a reason He has not answered in our time. One day we will laugh at the seemingly impossible situations while we watch with delight at how God will open a path through our Red Sea. (copied) His timing is perfect.
This week we begin the forty days of Lent. Perhaps this year we need to do something different in preparation for Easter. Rather than giving up something, let’s begin to ask God everyday for what we need, then wait and see. As the psalmist said, “I am confident of this; I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Psalm 27:3
My faith looks up to Thee, thou lamb of Calvary, Savior Divine. Now hear me while I pray, Take all my guilt away, O let me from this day be wholly thine. lyrics by Ray Parker