It's very easy for us to come up with reasons why we should not ask God for things in prayer. As Christians, we should seek the will of God in all things. Perhaps we should only pray for God's will and nothing else, for what if what we ask for is contrary to His will? If is is not God's will, we should not want it, for it cannot be good. In fact, what is the point in asking for anything? If He wants to give it to us, He will. We cannot change God's mind or affect His will in any way. Asking God to intervene in our lives does not seem to make sense.
Yet, if we probe even deeper, we may wonder why we should even pray to God that His will be done. It will be done no matter what we do, for God ensures that His promises are kept and His plans are fulfilled. We could not prevent or stop Him if we wanted to, nor does He need anything from us to assist Him in fulfilling his purposes.
So, after pondering all these issues, it would seem that we should not pray for anything, nor should we desire anything except to serve God. Whatever God wants to happen will happen anyway. It seems logical, I have met a few people who hold this belief, and I have read one book where this idea was the central theme, but it is not consistent with what the Bible has to say on the matter.
The Bible Tells Us That it is Right That We Should Ask God for What We Want and Need
Despite what might seem obvious from our own deductions, the Bible could not be more clear in stating that God does want us to ask for things. God delights in our asking and He delights in delivering good gifts to us. In Matthew 7:11, Jesus tells us, "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" In John 14:14, Jesus promises, "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." Finally, the apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God"
There can be no doubt that God wants and expects us to bring our requests to Him in prayer. Jesus was our example in this regard, for even though he knew what suffering lay ahead, He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane that the Father would take it away if it were possible for Him to do so (Matthew 26:39). Jesus knew that this was not possible, so how can we explain this request? Why would Jesus ask this of the Father when He knew that it had to be done?
1) Having Strong Desires Permits Us to Have Meaningful Sacrifice.
In order to understand Jesus' prayer in the garden, we need to consider the alternative. Imagine that Jesus prayed to the Father, "So, tomorrow I am going to be crucified, that's fine whatever, thanks, and your will be done." There is something inherently wrong with that reaction. It demonstrates that Jesus doesn't particularly care and if that is so, can we rightly call his death a sacrifice? His act upon the cross will have lost some of it's meaning and power.
We have to understand that when Jesus cries out to the Father, His prayer is not about asking God to do something, it's about Jesus expressing anguish and seeking solace from the Father. Jesus is experiencing the most powerful human emotions imaginable and so He cries out to his trusted and loving confidant in Heaven. In this way, we understand that Jesus is extremely apprehensive about his death on the cross, but he will do it anyway. We must learn a valuable lesson from Jesus - there can be no sacrifice without passion.
Imagine someone saying, "Why should I pray for God to stop the slaughter in Rwanda? His will be done." No matter how much this person may intend to sound noble, the sentiment is cold and callous. We can never fully apprehend God's plan in it's entirety, so it is meaningless to desire God's will on that level. It's arrogant and it's an excuse for inaction. We can only do as God has commanded us to do and so we demonstrate our desire for God's will by doing specific acts of goodness and opposing specific acts of evil. We seek God's will, not indifferently by sitting back and saying, "His will be done", but by actively helping the poor, opposing violence and leading people to Christ. Our prayer for God to help in these areas is a reflection of those desires.
When we are confronted with real pain in our life, it does no good to shrug and say, "God's will be done." When presented with the reality that our child has cancer and is suffering tremendous pain, we must cry out, "Please Father, this is too much to bear! Please ease this suffering." But then, as Jesus did, we must conclude, "Yet not as I will, but as you will." In this way, we let God know that we are passionate about this terrible affliction and we desperately want it to stop, yet, if sacrifice is necessary and the suffering must be endured, we are prepare to offer it . This is true sacrifice, and it's not possible without also feeling the intense desire for it to stop. If we were indifferent, our sacrifice would be meaningless.
2) Asking For Things Demonstrates our Faith and Submission
Asking God for things we need is closely associated with humility. God wants us to accomplish great things for His glory and for the Kingdom. If we decide to do this on our own, we may very well do some good work, but it will be nothing compared to what we can accomplish if we permit God's Spirit to work through us. Pride is a problem for many of us and it gets in the way whenever we think, "I don't want help. I want to do this on my own." If this is our attitude, God obliges us and leaves us to our own destiny. However, if we can overcome our pride, submit to God and ask for His help, much greater things can be accomplished.
Final Note on Prayer
Though this article has focused on asking God for things we need, that is only a very small aspect of prayer. Let us not forget that prayer should be so much more. It should be a time of reflection, praise, worship, repentance, and thanksgiving. We should be wary of only praying whenever we need something. Our relationship with God is very much like a relationship with a friend or spouse. If the only time we talk to them is when we need something, it will be a very strained relationship!
