Make your prayers count! - Chapter 1
Could you be overlooking some of the most basic principles regarding answered prayer?
A major blunder. That’s exactly what Henry had just made.
“I simply don’t understand why God didn’t give me the wisdom to make the right decision,” Henry sighed, shaking his head.
Actually, Henry had made a double mistake. Double, because if we were to inquire of him, “Did you specifically ask God for the wisdom you needed?” Henry’s reply would be something like: “Er, well, no — not specifically. But,” he would hastily add, “God knew I needed it. He knows all things.”
True, God knows all things. He is fully aware of our needs. As Jesus stated, “Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him”.
Matthew 6:8
for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
But does that, therefore, render prayer unnecessary?
Not at all! The Bible clearly points out that one of the reasons we sometimes do not receive the blessings we could enjoy is simply that we do not ask God for them.
James 4:2
Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.
Matthew 7:7
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.
To illustrate, Jesus gave the example of a child asking his father for some food.
Matthew 7:11
So if
you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
How? With no conditions? Always automatically? As a matter only of due course? Just because He knows we need them? Whether or not we ask? No! Read it: “to those who ask Him!”
James 1:5
If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.
Henry should have read this more closely. This verse doesn’t say that if you need wisdom, God will automatically supply it because you are a Christian and He knows you need it.
God is filled with mercy and compassion. He knows what we need. He stands ready to give liberally. But He wants us to ask anyway.
Why? The fact that God tells us to is certainly good enough reason all by itself. But let’s see if we can understand why God tells us to.
