Perhaps it’s part of our nature but sometimes we don’t like asking others for things or asking other people for help. Even our close family or friends.
The same can be said of asking from God. But Jesus encourages us to ask our Heavenly Father for the things we need.
One of the reasons is that it keeps our eyes on God and places our trust and dependence in Him as our Father looking out for us. God reliance instead of self reliance.
God is ABBA our Father who loves us and cares for us and also Jehovah Jireh. God who provides.
Jesus says to us today: Ask and you will receive – Matthew 7:7
What do you need today? There will definitely be things. They could be material, emotional or spiritual.
Whatever it is be assured that the storehouses of heaven are not empty and God is well able to provide for us.
My friend Geoff reminded us in our prayer group of this verse in James which says:
“You have not because you ask not” James 4:2
But James also tells us in the next verse that we wont receive if we ask with the wrong motives.
God knows our hearts and what prompts us to ask for things – if our requests are selfishly motivated or we are asking for the wrong things then we will not receive them from God.
We are living in times when God wants to remind us and encourage us to ask Him and trust Him to provide for us.
COVID has shown all of us whether rich or poor how quickly our lives can be shaken and turned upside down. How the things we rely on everyday can quickly disappear. Even how quickly the shelves of the supermarkets can be emptied by panic buying.
This is the time to remind ourselves that we are not orphans. We have a Father in heaven.
Let us approach God with confidence because God is not unprepared. Jesus tells us that our Father in heaven already knows the things we need before we even ask him – Matthew 6:8
The first prayer which Jesus taught his followers to pray to the Father makes some specific requests of God:
To Feed us (provision) – Give us our daily bread;
To Forgive us (grace) – for the wrongs we do as we forgive others;
To Lead us (direction)- keep our steps from following after the wrong things;
To Deliver us from evil (protection) – from satan and his strategies against us. For he, the thief, comes just to rob, kill and destroy.
If we pray as Jesus showed us it covers all our basic needs of provision, forgiveness, direction and protection.
My friend, Heather, had a picture recently of heaven’s storehouses which were stocked full with all the things that Jesus died that we may have as our inheritance now to live life to the full in Him and do His works.
These are all the things that the enemy wants to make sure that we don’t have and enjoy. Satan wants to rob them from us. Satan will do what he can to stop us asking God for what we need and distort our understanding of God’s love and care for us. He will use distraction, discouragement, pride and unbelief in hindering and stopping us asking God for help.
God really cares about the little things. During the first lock down in April I was helping as a volunteer to get shopping for vulnerable people. I was sent a shopping list for a lady with cancer and it was a long list. I was like Lord where am I going to get these items especially toilet paper as there was none at all in the shops. I had been out shopping and the shelves were mostly bare.
Well I went shopping and I was amazed because each shop I went in I managed to get something from her list. In one shop I remember there was one can of what this lady needed just sitting there on a shelf. Just waiting for me to pick it up.
The last thing on the list was the toilet paper and to be honest I was not feeling that hopeful but then I saw two ladies walking along the street with big bags of toilet paper. I’m not normally pushy but I really wanted to find this toilet paper. I called over and asked them where they had managed to find it. They showed me a shop that had just taken a new delivery and stocked the shelves. I can’t tell you how glad I was to be able to deliver all that ladies items to her and how pleased she was to receive them.
Be encouraged today to ask of God in faith and expect to receive. Join with others too and encourage them to ask. Asking with others is powerful.
Jesus said that when two of us agree about something and ask God then it will be done for us by our Father in heaven.
I join my prayer with yours today and say;
Our Father in heaven:
May your holy name be honored;
may your Kingdom come;
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today the food we need.
Forgive us the wrongs we have done, as we forgive the wrongs that others have done to us.
Do not bring us to hard testing, but keep us safe from the Evil One.’
Amen 🙏
EagleSight 