When you just need to ask

“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Askfor what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in” (Matthew7:7).

Our cat Wilbur posed for the picture above, but one of our daughters has a pet cat who isvery friendly with her pet mouse, an unusual relationship. I don’t think theway they relate to each other is what Matthew is talking about in this verse.

He’s saying instead of playing games, hesitating,and avoiding, we need to go directly before God with our requests.

It’s interesting how often we will doeverything in our own strength to solve a problem and suffer the consequencesof doing so before we stop and ask God to help us.

Of course, our asking should be filteredthrough the line in the Lord’s prayer, “Your will be done on earth as it is inheaven” (Matthew 6:10). What the author Jan Karon calls “the prayer that neverfails,” which her character, Father Tim, often refers to. And of course, weneed to check our motivations for what we’re asking. Is a thirty-foot yachtreally in keeping with what the Lord has for us? Could be, but the answer to our request depends onHis purpose--not our desire alone, but our need.

Paul wrote to the Hebrews, “Let us thenapproach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercyand find grace to help us in our time of need.” When we approach the Lord, wego as His children. We go with confidence before the Lord knowing He hears our prayers.

And when the Lord replies, we need toreceive the answer and not resort again to our own devices if God’s responsedoesn’t look like what we imagined.

So, if you’re realizing you haven’t askedconcerning a situation you’re in, now would be a good time. Who knows what theLord may do?

Beverly Varnado's most recent book is In Search of the Painted Bunting, a middle grade historical from Elk Lake Publishing, #1 in new releases in its category. She is also the author of several small town romances from Anaiah Press including her latest, A Season for Everything. All are available at Amazon. To explore the web version of One Ringing Bell, please visit bev-oneringingbell.blogspot.comTo sign up for her newsletter, go to http://eepurl.com/dHNdsX Beverly Varnado copyright 2023