Meditations

Are You Asking Often Enough?

I have been out of town for ten days.  I hate being out of town.  I am a homebody at heart. I especially missed blogging.  So many thoughts get crammed up in my head and they need to come out!
I wanted to share a powerful thought about my trip.  Several things happened that needed prayer...urgent prayer. My first response is to not "bother" God with a request.  Satan tells us that God cannot be bothered with us.  He gets us to doubt God's provision and care.

 I mentioned this a few blogs ago. Every sin can be put in one of three categories. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life are demonstrated in the Bible. Not those words, but those situations. When Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent, he used these three temptations.

 He said to Eve, "Do I understand that God told you to not eat ANY fruit of the garden?" He was attempting to get Eve to think that God was withholding good things. He wants us to think that God does not want to provide every good thing.  Admit it.  How often do you find yourself thinking that God would not hear you when you ask for a need?

The other two sins are more obvious. We want to meet a physical need(lust of the flesh) even if it is wrong for us or we need to wait. Even greater is the desire to be put first(pride of life).  However, the lust of the eyes can really trip us up. We see others getting everything they need and we are missing out.

Pretty soon, we do not even ask because we are mad at God.  We quit seeing him as the "owner of the cattle on a thousand hills(Psalm 50:10)." We stop seeing him as our perfect Father who "if we ask for bread, will he give us a stone?(Matthew 7:9)" We forget that in Luke 11, it says," Ask and you will get, Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be open to you." Does that sound like someone that is stingy?

So this week, when I needed some help, I asked and it was provided. I asked with confidence and boldness. God answered and it felt normal.  I realized that my Father wants me to ask because he wants to give and give generously. He especially wants me to ask when I cannot meet that need in my own strength or wisdom or power. He receives the glory when I am at the end of my rope.  Let's never stop asking. Let's quit asking for small things that we already can see how the end turns out.
Let's ask for the unseen and not the seen. When we start praying like that...get ready for some laughter and excitement when he answers us!