Ask But unlike the "Give me what I want now!" attitude toward life some of us grew up with, God wants us to make requests with appropriate expectations. We can expect God to answer according to his superior knowledge of our desires and needs. When we place our confidence in him, he will take care of our hearts - and the situation. The book of Jeremiah reminds us that, "Cursed is the one who trusts in man ... He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit" (17:5-8; see also verses 9-10). God asks us to wait for his timing and to trust that what he gives in answer to our request is the best for us (even if we don't think so at the time). How can we ask? Prayer! Prayer is talking with God. We don't have to sit a certain way or be in a certain place in order to pray. When Jesus was questioned about how requests should be made to God, he used a parable (a type of story) to explain that God wants us to continually approach him through prayer (see Luke 11:1-10). He wants to hear our voices and our hearts. God is capable
of doing more than we ask. |