Bothering God

I was brought up not to ask for things. When we visited our relatives and we were offered something to eat or drink, the polite answer was "No, thank you." I'm not saying it was right; it's just how my brother and sister and I were taught.

God is not like that; He wants us to ask:

"Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession" (Psalm 2:8).

Well, that was the Father speaking to the Son, you say. Yes, but Jesus passes the baton to us, and now we are to ask for the nations as our inheritance:

"Pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you" (2 Thessalonians 3:1).

When we don't ask God for things, He does not esteem it as politeness. He was not pleased when Asa didn't ask him for healing but went straight to the doctors (2 Chronicles 16:12); nor when King Joash could not be bothered to exert himself to seek God's help in wartime (2 Kings 13:14-19).

The apostles were just as obtuse as the rest of the crowd who heard Jesus' parables. The difference was that when everybody else dispersed and went home, they stayed after class to ask what the parables meant (Matthew 13:36). Jesus then explained them in plain language.

When Peter finally caught on that Jesus actually liked to bless and to be asked for blessing, he did a complete turnaround. Rather than trying to forbid Jesus from washing his feet anymore, he blurted out requests that Jesus wash every part of him (John 13:9).

It is not necessarily being nice to others when we don't ask them for anything. It could be that we don't think very highly of them or don't trust them or don't believe they can do it. Jesus asked the blind men who came for healing, "Do you believe that I am able to do this?" (Matthew 9:28). I always picture the Lord as surprised and delighted when He asked this question and when the men answered, "Yes." Our faith puts Him in a mood to do a miracle. He replied to them: "According to your faith let it be done to you" (verse 29).

For most of my Christian life, I have not asked God for much. It's possible I asked Him if I could please marry so-and-so and if I could be pretty and if I could get to a bathroom on time when I had an emergency. Other than that, I can't recall ever bothering the Lord.

It is a relatively new thing for me that I ask God for lots of favors. I ask Him for wisdom (He tells us to in James 1:5), for particular spiritual gifts I would like (He tells us to in 1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:1), for more of the Holy Spirit (He tells us to in Luke 11:13), for healings (He tells us to in James 5:14-15), for "gold" and "garments" and "eye salve" (He tells us to in Revelation 3:18), and to "bind" Satan and "loose" God's kingdom power in a variety of situations (Matthew 16:18-19).

There are many other things that are not specifically spelled out in the Bible that I ask for besides, because I am not obtuse and I can see that that's what Jesus was getting at---that we should become askers, seekers, and knockers. ("You have said, 'Seek my face.' My heart says to you, 'Your face, LORD, do I seek'" [Psalm 27:8].)

And when I ask God for something, I always remember to say thank you at the same time (Philippians 4:6). That's something my family would have insisted on.

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