You have a felt need, a favor you want to ask of your supervisor, friend or family member.

What makes you comfortable approaching someone with a request? Why would you hesitate to ask for a favor?

 

Reasons for Asking

You’re more likely to ask for help if you know the other person cares for you, and if you’re convinced he’s capable of helping you.

If that’s true, I wonder why we often hesitate to ask the Lord for what we need.

A reason Peter gave for approaching the Lord is His love for us. We’re explicitly encouraged to humble ourselves, “casting all your anxieties upon Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7, emphasis mine). In Jeremiah 32:27, God highlights His power to help: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?” (Emphasis mine.)

He loves us enough to help, and He’s powerful enough to act.

 

Why Hesitate?

Perhaps we view our request as relatively unimportant compared to the more pressing needs of people in this broken world. We hesitate to approach God about a sick puppy, for wisdom on a purchase decision, or for a salary increase. He gets desperate requests daily from followers all over the world. How can He possibly view all my inquiries as significant?

Or we assume we’re less spiritual if most of our prayers are requests. Shouldn’t a mature believer offer more praise and adoration than petitions?

Or are we confident we can handle things ourselves?

If you ever hesitate to inquire, here’s good news. He deeply desires for you to inquire of Him. He laments when you proceed without seeking His intervention.

 

A Royal Inquirer

Perhaps God called King David “a man after my heart” (Acts 13:22) because David frequently asked Him for help. David didn’t limit his praying to praise, gratitude, and lament.  David consistently asked God for help and discernment. Here are just a few of his petitions.

• On multiple occasions, David asked the Lord if he should attack foes, such as the Philistines. (1 Sam. 23:2-4 is a case in point.) He didn’t hurry into battle impulsively. On one occasion, he requested discernment for the battle strategy to employ.
• He asked God if the men of Keilah would surrender him into Saul’s hand (1 Sam. 23:11). God assured him that they would give him up.
• After a raid, the Amalekites captured David’s wives and family members of his men. He strengthened himself in the Lord and asked if he should pursue the raiders and rescue them (1 Sam. 30:1-18). God said yes, and their rescue succeeded.

Once, David failed to inquire of the Lord before ordering a prideful military census. Grave consequences resulted (2 Samuel 24).

 

Other Old Testament Examples

According to Isaiah 30:1-2, God lamented His rebellious children, “who execute a plan, but not mine, and make an alliance, but not of My Spirit…who proceed down to Egypt without consulting Me.”

During the conquest of the promised land, the men of Gibeon fooled Joshua by claiming they came from a far country. Joshua made a covenant with them, but later grieved the decision because he “did not ask for the counsel of the Lord” (Joshua 9:14).

Due to their disobedience, God executed judgment on Judah. He declared that His people had not sought the Lord or inquired of Him (Zephaniah 1:6).

Proverbs 3:5-7 makes a strong case for calling on God regularly: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes.”

We proceed without asking God for help when we are “wise in our own eyes.”

 

New Testament  Examples

The Lord urged us to inquire of Him for the necessities of life (Matthew 6:11).

Jesus encouraged us to take our burdens to Him (Matthew 11:28).

Paul told us to take our worries to the Lord (Phil. 4:6-7).

The Lord calls us to persist in praying for our needs, as seen in Luke 11:1-13. He employed a present imperative verb form, calling for continued, ongoing action: “Keep asking, and it shall be given to you; keep seeking, and you shall find; keep knocking, and it shall be opened” (v. 11).

James told us to plead for wisdom. In this context, he’s referring to the wisdom needed for responding appropriately to trials (see verses 2-4). “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).

 

Emphatic Words of Jesus

I’m more inclined to approach Christ with my needs–especially when I’m confessing sin–when I read His words in John 6:37. Referring to believers, those whom the Father has given Him, Christ insisted, “The one who comes to Me, I will certainly not cast out.”  Jesus employed a double negative to make His point. Literally, He said, “I will not, not” or “I will never, ever” cast out!

 

The Ultimate Irony

Confession may be good for the soul, but it’s bad for the reputation.

I wrote this article over a two-day period, shifting back and forth to other tasks.

One of those tasks took over four hours, causing extreme stress and aggravation. I needed to set up an account with Square and learn how to use a small plugin device with my iPhone so I could take credit card payments during book signings. The process involved creating a password, linking my bank account to the Square Point of Sale App, and practicing the procedure so I’d know precisely what to do at book signings. I kept having trouble following the prescribed steps. I chatted with a virtual assistant online, and when that didn’t work, I finally talked to a person in customer service.

I figure the process would be easy for 95% of the population, but for some reason, technical procedures on a computer have always confused me. Stress built up yesterday. I yelled “Dadgummit!” I felt stupid and wondered how I ever exhibited enough sense to write a book in the first place. By the time I accomplished the feat, I was berating myself for impatience and lack of know-how.

Then today, when I completed this article, the Holy Spirit convicted me. It’s as if He were saying, “Terry, why didn’t you practice what you preach? If you had asked me, I could have calmed your spirit. You knew from the get-go that procedures of this sort engender stress, yet you didn’t pause and ask for the capacity to understand the instructions. At the very least, I would have instilled patience so you could have approached the task with a more positive attitude.”

How easy it is to make decisions or proceed with tasks without inviting the Lord to help or guide us!

 

A Big God

Do you ever hesitate to approach God with a need?  What causes the hesitancy? Whether it’s a heavy burden or a minor thing, let’s remember how big our God is.

In a Family Circus cartoon featuring Dolly and her younger brother Jeffy, she sees Jeffy on his bed, his hands folded in prayer. Dolly says, “It’s okay to ask God for little things, Jeffy. Everything is little to God!” (by Bil Keane)

Do you need something from the Lord today?

Go ahead–ask Him! Even if you perceive it as a little thing.