God gives good things, but wants us to ask for them

My grandson asked me to make him a bowl of cereal. So I said, “Abracadabra! You’re a bowl of cereal!” All that happened was my grandson’s laughter.

So I tried something I thought might be more forceful, more commanding: “Hocus pocus dominocus! Be a bowl of cereal!” More laughter resulted.

I don’t think my grandson had any faith in a transformation. He probably didn’t want to be a bowl of cereal anyway. So, I got the cereal and poured the milk to prove I could make him a bowl of cereal.

There are several reasons we don’t get what we want. First, we don’t ask God, the only one who hears and answers prayer (James 4:2; 1 Kings 18:17-39). God wants us to have good things, but he also wants us to ask for them (Matthew 7:7-11; 6:25-33). While God sends the sunshine and rain and all the blessings those bring on all men, those who seek his righteousness will be blessed beyond their imagination in this life and the next (Matthew 5:45; James 4:13-16; Ephesians 1:3-10; 1 Corinthians 2:9).

Second, equal to God, Jesus promised to do whatever we ask in his name, but saying, “in Jesus’ name, amen” doesn’t add magic words, forcing God to do whatever we ask (John 14:12-21). God only hears prayers that come from his obedient children that are according to his will (John 9:31;1 John 3:21-24; Acts 2:38-39; Romans 8:9-17).

Sometimes, we pray for things that aren’t within God’s will or even in our best interest, like the city kid who asks Santa for a pony when his parents have no place to keep a pony (James 4:3). This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t want us to enjoy life; he just wants us to be sensible about how we try to do that (Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, 24-27).

Third, God gives his obedient children, those who seek first his kingdom and righteousness, opportunities he expects us to make the most of to demonstrate that faith, thereby also bringing about the answer to our prayer (Matthew 3:13-17; 25:14-31; 17:14-21; Mark 9:14-29; Ephesians 5:15-17).

In about 332 B.C., Alexander the Great moved a mountain into the sea to connect the mainland to the island city of Tyre so he could conquer the city. Jesus’ audience in Matthew 17 and Mark 9 likely would have known about that. When we ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth workers, we’re expected to put feet to our prayers and be among those who go (Matthew 9:35-38; 28:16-20). While our lack of faith or obedience won’t keep God from accomplishing his will by some other means, he does a lot of his work through his children (Philippians 2:5-13).

The key to having our prayers answered is becoming God’s children and presenting ourselves to him as living sacrifices, which takes place simultaneously (Romans 12:1-2; 6:3-11). Have you submitted yourself to God on his terms to become his child so your prayers can be answered according to his will (Matthew 6:9-13)?

Leonard Lauriault writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at

[email protected]