Asking for Intervention: The Partnership of Prayer

ATTN:

DVD – Prayer - Sermonspice

I still remember being shocked to hear it. I was standing in the Doctor’s entrance to Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC. I was standing there with my buddy who also sold pharmaceuticals. We were there meeting the docs as they left from or arrived for their morning rounds. As they waited for the elevators, just wanting to get on with their day, our job was to say something . . . anything to catch their attention and engage them in a conversation about our products.

Mine was a medicine for arthritis. I thought it was simply supposed to ease the discomfort and reduce the swelling of arthritic joints. That’s why I couldn’t believe what I heard. My buddy starts talking about our drug actually rebuilding joint cartilage. Without getting too involved, his saying that was akin to saying that, if you just took enough of our drug, your rheumatic joints that were crooked from years of disease would eventually just straighten back out. It was quite a claim . . . and not one which seemed credible.

So when we had a “break in the action” and no one else was around, I asked him about it. Our conversation went something like this: I said, “Hey man, where are you getting that ‘rebuilding’ joint cartilage stuff from?” He said, “O it was from a study I read.” “What kind of study and why have I never heard about it? Who were the patients?” “O,” he replied, “they weren’t patients.” I said, “Well, if they weren’t patients, how did they do the study?” “O,” he said, “that study was done in dogs.”

I was thinking to myself, “That’s not a good detail to leave out! You’re here making outrageous claims, while I’m standing here with you and you’re using DOG DATA?? There goes my credibility.” Wow!

Now, as incredulous as I was, I’m sure he wasn’t the first salesman to make an outrageous claim. In fact, we’re so used to outrageous claims that, whenever someone is selling us something, we tend to look at them with suspicion. We don’t quite believe everything we’re told, and that’s a good thing. You can’t even blame yourself for feeling that way because you’ve been burned before. You took someone at their word and they took advantage of you, so you don’t quite believe.

The sad thing is that people often feel that way about prayer, especially the prayer promises in the Bible. It has been said so often that it becomes a cliche with little substance. “Prayer changes things” we say, but people hearing that often think, “Well, I prayed, but nothing changed. Guess that’s another one of ‘those’ promises you can’t quite trust.”

BACKGROUND

This doubt sort of frames the debate of that next phrase in the Lord’s prayer. It’s the place where you ask for stuff! You know blessings, healings, comfort, power, food, clothes, all the things that we need to live life. Very often, in our praying, it becomes the “be all” and “end all” of our petition, but I want to remind you that this is our fourth message on this prayer. It has taken us four weeks to get to the part where we ask for what we think we need. This tells us two things:

In the first place, it tells us that our needs are always framed in the context of God’s purpose. His Kingdom comes first. In the second place, it tells us that there is something more vital to His glory and our well-being than what we’re having for supper.

And yet, there is some pretty incredible things promised to Christ-followers when it comes to our daily needs. In fact, if you just turn over to the next chapter of Matthew, you find one of the most awesome promises ever made to disciples. In Matt 7:7, Jesus says this about our praying. He says:

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

There is this feeling of power that flows out of this promise. If I pray, God responds. Through my praying, I can actually move the Hand of God. I ask, He gives. I seek, He reveals. I knock, He opens. Praying for our needs is a two-sided coin. I pray, God responds. Now, don’t get me wrong. I can’t really claim any credit because all the strength, ability and gifts come from God. But there is this sense in which, when I actively pray, He works.

NEED

Seems simple doesn’t it? And it is simple, until . . . Until you try it and nothing happens. You pray for the house to sell, the money to come in, the job to be offered, but it doesn’t, it goes out and it’s given to your best friend. And then you can really become confused. You think you’ve got this prayer thing nailed, but you pray only to be disappointed and you are left scratching your disillusioned head. And this confusion can take many forms.

For one thing, confusion can come over just how passive you should be. I mean, do you just pray and sit back and wait for God to act. If you’re trying to sell your home, do you just pray and trust God or do you try to get the very best Real Estate agent you can find and spend 10,000 dollars on your “curb appeal.” If you’re praying for a mate, do you sit home on Friday nights, or do you sign up for e-harmony? How do you depend?

And then there is some confusion over just what God is promising. What does it really mean when God says “Ask and you will receive?” Will He really give me anything I ask for? And if He will not do that, why does He seem to say that here?

I want us to take a look at this “daily bread” thing again. I want us to examine just what this partnership of prayer really means. How does this “asking” and “receiving” work together? Well, if you’re going to practice this partnership of prayer, you must first understand:

DIV 1: YOUR PART

EXP

ASK - Now the first rule of praying is this: You must do it, if something is to happen! Prayer is the primary conveyor belt God uses to get His grace into our life. As if to emphasize that prayer is an active thing, three commands are given here in these verses. In fact, they are one-word commands that form a kind of terse “prayer-chain.” We are to ask! We are to Seek! We are to Knock!

While some see these commands as different words being used for the same concept, I believe, from my study, that there is a rising intensity in these words. For instance, we are told to Ask. Asking speaks of TRUST. When I ask, I come to God with a great humility that recognizes my own need. We, like children, have no way of providing for ourselves, and we simply come to Him and “ask” Him for our needs, trusting Him to provide.

But, in this asking there is one fact that works against us. It is the very obviousness of the need. We think something like this: “Hey God’s no dummy. He knows more than I ever will, so He has to know my need. He knows I have cancer and need healing; he knows I’m broke and I need money. He knows I’m desperately hurt and I need healing from this broken marriage. So since He knows, why doesn’t He do something about it?” And there sometimes rises up within us a pride that refuses to humble ourselves and ask. But asking is exactly what we are called on to do. Why? Because it is the asking that demonstrates the trust.

ILL

He was flushed with victory! It had been awesome! All day the false prophets had cut themselves and prayed to Baal trying to get their dead god to do something and all day long they had not even seen the white flicker of a spark.

But then it was His turn. In quiet, confident tones he called on his God and, in response, the altar blazed with fire. God had proven Himself to be the unique God of the universe. But there is an interesting little footnote to this victorious scene. As Elijah is leaving the mountain, He finds Ahab the king and tells him, “Hey King, it’s going to rain!”

Now that might not mean much to you, but it meant a lot to the king because his country was in the middle of a 3.5 year drought. Now you would think that was all there was to it. If God had just brought down fire from heaven and incinerated the sacrifice, surely He would send the rain. He heard Elijah say that, and, indeed, it may have been God who had already told Elijah what He was going to do, so did Elijah really need to ask for rain?

O yes! He did! In fact, in the NT James says that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. 18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

In fact, the description of that prayer over in 1 Kings 18. It says:

And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” 44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

I love that! Seven times, Elijah comes back and asks all over again till a little cloud shows up. Then he tells his servant to tell Ahab, “You best be getting back to the palace before the road floods out!”

APP

What an example of asking! What humility! After such a huge victory, I’d probably have not even prayed, much less prayed 7 times, but Elijah humbles himself and asks. That’s where our part begins in prayer. Asking is really about believing. I must believe, as Heb 11:6 says, that God exists, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. My part begins with asking

EXP - RESPONSIBILITY

But it doesn’t stop there. The next word in our “Prayer chain” is “seek.” Asking and seeking are different. Seeking implies that I do more than ask. I actually “seek” for an answer. If “ask” defines trust in prayer, “seek” defines the responsibility of prayer. I don’t just ask and trust, I do everything I can to facilitate an answer.

ILL

You wake in the morning and look over at your desk. There it is. It’s a bright pink and you know what’s on it. It’s sitting on top of the box you used to clean out your desk. That was a month ago, but the pain is just as fresh as if it had happened five minutes earlier.

Beside the box is your Bible. Every morning, especially since the layoff, you’ve been spending time with the Lord and, of course, you always ask Him to provide you with exactly the right job at exactly the right time. You’ve been asking, but have you been seeking? You see the asker prays and trusts God, but the person who is seeking, when he finishes his prayer, turns on the internet, goes online and begins to fill out job applications. He is seeking. He gets actively involved in putting himself in the place where God can use him to answer his own prayer. That’s the responsibility of prayer.

APP

You see, prayer is an active thing. Are you, as I grew up hearing, putting “feet” on your prayers? Are you just praying for the lost or are you witnessing to them? Are you just praying for missions, or are you also giving and going? Are you just praying for healing, or are you pursuing the habits that can help to bring about your health? Are just praying for God to reveal His will to you, or are you actively studying His Word so that He can use His word to communicate with you. Prayer is an active thing. Yes I must ask, but I must also act. I actively seek God’s solution in my life.

EXP - PERSEVERANCE

Which just leads me to that last command of prayer. We are told to “knock and it will be opened to us.” Again, when I am told to ask, I am, in essence commanded to trust God enough to ask Him for help; When I am told to seek, I am commanded to “put feet on my faith” and begin to allow God to use me to provide His answer to my situation. When I knock, I take all of this one step further. Knocking speaks of perseverance. We are to knock and knock and keep on knocking. We are to ask God so constantly that our prayer becomes like our breathing, and, as we ask, we are to persevere in our action to obey what God gives us to do and then, finally, we are to never give up our faith. We are to believe and believe and keep on believing and expecting God to answer. We persevere in prayer. We knock and knock and keep on knocking

ARG

Which leads to the obvious question: Why? I mean we are assuming, aren’t we, that by virtue of the fact that I am continuing to ask is because nothing seems to be happening. Why do you keep on asking when God just doesn’t seem to be answering.

APP

Can I try to answer that this morning because, I have to tell you, that’s real life, isn’t it? Some of us have been praying for the same loved one for years and they seem to get harder against the gospel rather than softer. Some of us have been praying for the relief of some physical ailment for years and we’re sicker than ever. Others of us have been praying for the softening of the heart of a loved one towards us. Our relationship has been soured and, no matter what we try, there’s a wall up we just can’t seem to break through. And it does no good for me to tell you to pray about it because you have been praying about it, but nothing seems to change. Why should you keep on praying?

Let me give you three reasons. In the first place, you keep on praying because of the clarity of the command. We are to ask, seek, and knock! In many places we are told to not stop praying. The command is clear and for that reason we persevere in our praying.

The second reason we keep on praying flows out of the sovereignty of God. In a subtle way, when we refuse to pray any longer about some need that has not been met, we reflect a misunderstanding about prayer. When we refuse to pray anymore about some need, we are saying, in essence, that since God hasn’t done what we’ve asked, according to our timetable, we’re going to quit. Refusal to pray may, in some cases, even be a rebellion against the sovereignty of God. He is in control; I am not. He has His own timing and He promises to move in response to prayer.

Now let me hasten to add that there may be time that God really does impress upon us that the thing we’re asking for is not His will. When that happens, yes, it is time to stop asking for it! But apart from that, we knock and knock and keep on knocking.

But there’s a third reason. Not only do we persevere in prayer because of the clarity of the command and because of the sovereignty of God. We also continue to pray because of the potential for change. There’s an old cliche of prayer that says, “Prayer changes things.” I’ve always had a little bit of a problem with that saying because it’s not exactly true. Truthfully, you see, prayer changes nothing. God changes things. Prayer simply connects us with the God who is able to change things. Now, one of the greatest ways God changes things is by changing people. The greatest reward for prayer is the change that takes place in me as I pray. It’s amazing that, as I am praying, God begins to work in my heart.

ILL

We recently had a group of our men who went deep sea fishing. Evidently, there had been some reports that, because of the unusual weather we had been having this year, there was a certain kind of fish that were being caught by the boatloads, literally.

Now, I’m not much of a fisherman, but these guys were salivating to go. I mean they were motivated. I knew that for sure on the morning that they were scheduled to leave because I got up and realized that they had chosen to go on a day when we were having a Nor’easter. You know there was a big old low off the coast. The wind was blowing and I could just see these guys out their “manhood plans” going down in “the perfect storm.”

Well, it turned out that they had a great time, but caught nothing. Not a single fish! Now just picture these guys coming in from that trip and getting back to the dock where they boarded the boat. when they get up to the dock, one of the boat’s workers probably got off the, jumped onto the dock and took a rope and began to pull.

Here’s my question: When they began to pull, did they pull the dock toward the boat? I mean did the whole continent of North and South America move over three feet to close the gap between the boat and the dock? You say, “Well, that’s a pretty stupid question, Rusty! Of course not! It wasn’t the land that moved, it was the boat. When they pulled the rope, the boat moved closer to the dock.”

That’s right! And when you and I pray we throw out a rope to the Heavenly Father, and through prayer we begin to pull and we begin to ask Him for our requests, but our prayerful pulling does not move the mighty sovereign will of God to our persuasion. No! Instead, we are pulled over to His persuasion.

It looks like this: In prayer, I begin here. (Use hand) I begin praying what I want. But, through prayer, God goes to work on my heart and He begins to move me until my will lines up with His and I actually begin to pray within His will and when I pray within His will, He answers me. THIS IS THE MAJOR REASON WHY I KNOCK AND KEEP ON KNOCKING! I PERSEVERE IN PRAYER BECAUSE AS I CHANGE THERE IS A MIGHTY POTENTIAL FOR CHANGE IN ME.

Prayer is something that is active. I pray, God responds. My part is to ask, seek, and knock. But what is God’s part?

DIV 2 GOD’S PART

EXP

Three wordss define God’s part of the asking and receiving of prayer. In the first place, His answers are guaranteed. I say they are guaranteed because of the very forceful way in which they are expressed. There is no equivocation and, at least in this place, no condition. If you ask, you will receive; if you seek, you will find; if you knock, it will be opened to you. Then, as if to re-emphasize the truth, Jesus repeats Himself in v 8. Now, in verse 7, the emphasis is on the commands: “ask,” “seek,” “knock.” In v 8, however, the emphasis is on the promises: “receive,” “find,” “it will be opened.” God’s part in this is guaranteed. If you pray, He will respond. He will always answer.

The second word that defines God’s part of prayer is one you may not have thought of: His answers are superior. Now I use that word because of the illustration we are given in vv 9-10. There Jesus says:

9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?

Jesus appeals to our experiences with out earthly fathers to show us the kind of concern that God has for us. Now let me say right up front that you may have not had such a good father. Maybe you grew up without even having a father who lived with you, or worse yet, who even abused you. If so, I know that this example may not be as powerful for you.

But, for the most part, we all had fathers who at least cared about us to some extent. Jesus says, who among you who are fathers, if your child came to you and said, “Hey dad. I’m really, really, hungry. It’s been 2 days since I ate. Will you please give me a piece of bread?” Now what Dad is there who, when he hears that, would say, “Here you are son,” and hand him a big cold rock? And what Dad is there who, if their child came to him and said, “Hey dad, that flounder you’re cooking sure smells good! May I have a piece?” would say, “Here you go son!” and place in his hand a stinging scorpion?

The answer? You may not be the best dad in the world, but no one would do that to his child. Then Jesus brings the illustration home in v 11. He says:

11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Hey, You’re a sinful, sorry excuse for a father, really, yet you would not so treat your children. How much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him! You see, God’s answers are superior

ILL

SHE RARELY CRIED, BUT THIS ONE NIGHT WAS DIFFERENT.

I HAD MADE A DEAL WITH MY DAUGHTER WHEN SHE WAS HEADING OFF TO COLLEGE THAT, I WOULD PAY HER SCHOOL BILL, ALL OF IT, IF SHE WOULD JUST FINISH PAYNG FOR HER CAR AND COVER THE INSURANCE BY GETTING A JOB. SEEMED LIKE A GOOD DEAL TO ME AND I WAS GOING TO HOLD HER TO IT.

BUT YOU KNOW HOW THOSE THINGS GO. SHE GOT SOME ODD JOBS, BUT NOTHING THAT WAS REALLY CARRYING THE FREIGHT. NONE OF THOSE BILLS REALLY GOT PAID SO SHE REACHED HER SENIOR YEAR WITHOUT EVER FULFILLING HER RESPONSIBILITY.

SO, THEN, SHE WAS ABOUT TO GET MARRIED. HERE I WAS DOING ALL OF THESE OTHER THINGS AND, NOW, I HAD TO PAY FOR A WEDDING, SO I CAME UP WITH A SORT OF “FATHER OF THE BRIDE” IDEA. I DECIDED THAT IN LIEU OF WHAT SHE OWED, I WOULD JUST LET HER PAY FOR HER OWN WEDDING. TEACH HER A LITTLE RESPONSIBILITY, RIGHT?

WELL WE WENT THROUGH THE SUMMER AND SHE DID WORK HARD. I WAS HAPPY AND I THOUGHT SHE WAS, BUT I’LL NEVER FORGET THE NIGHT SHE CAME TO ME ON THE BACK PORCH OF OUR HOUSE. SHE TOLD ME THAT SHE HAD WORKED AS HARD AS SHE COULD BUT SHE WAS STILL GOING TO BE SHORT BY A COUPLE OF THOUSAND DOLLARS IN COVERING HER EXPENSES.

WELL, I SORT OF LAUNCHED INTO “FATHER OF THE BRIDE” MODE AGAIN, COMPLAINING ABOUT THE COST OF EVERYTHING, AND THEN I SAW THE TEARS. NOW YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT MY DAUGHTER RARELY CRIES. I COULD COUNT ON BOTH MY HANDS THE TIMES I’VE SEEN IT. SHE JUST DOESN’T DO IT. BUT THAT NIGHT WAS DIFFERENT. ALL OF A SUDDEN SHE BROKE, AND THERE I WAS FEELING LIKE THE WORST FATHER IN THE WHOLE WORLD.

I ALL OF SUDDEN REMEMBERED THAT SEEN FROM FATHER OF THE BRIDE WHERE STEVE ____________’S WIFE TELLS HIM THAT HE’S RUINING HIS DAUGHTER’S HAPPINESS. I JUST SAID, “HEY HON, WHATEVER YOU NEED WHATEVER YOU WANT, I JUST WANT YOU TO HAVE A GOOD WEDDING.”

NOW HERE’S THE POINT: THE TRUTH IS THAT THIS WAS NOT WHAT WE HAD AGREED ON AT ALL, BUT I JUST DECIDED TO GIVE HER A GIFT, WHY? BECAUSE I’M HER DAD, AND SHE’S MY CHILD.

NOW IF I, A GREEDY, SORRY, SINFUL, WEDDING-RUINING DAD KNOWS HOW TO GIVE A GOOD GIFT TO MY CHILD, HOW MUCH MORE DOES MY FATHER IN HEAVEN KNOW HOW TO GIVE A GOOD GIFT TO YOU AND ME. HIS ANSWERS ARE SUPERIOR! God’s answer is superior. He loves us and will help us. That’s guaranteed.

EXP

But there’s one more word that describes God’s answers. Not only are they guaranteed and superior, they are also good. Notice that v 11 says that our heavenly Father will give good gifts to His children. Now here’s where we get into trouble. The things we receive; the thing that we find and the door that gets opened may not be the specific thing that we asked for, sought or persevered in prayer for. The “good gift” may not be what we ask for. The question really becomes, doesn’t it, “What is good?”

My idea of good and God’s idea of good may actually be two different things. Did you know that there was a time, even since I’ve been living here in Wilson (many years ago now) that I actually asked God to let me win the Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes? (That was before we had the lottery, and since I would not play the lottery, I figured that in would have to be the Sweepstakes) Now, I’m not really proud of that, but I did it.

Know what I discovered? My idea of “good,” and God’s idea of “good” are really quite different. I think that good means I buy the mercedes, bank a million dollars, and retire to Maui at age 35. But my idea of good and God’s idea of good are really two different things.

What is God’s idea of good? Romans 8:28 says that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. But then Paul goes on to define what God considers good: For those He did foreknow, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. So God, clearly here, sees that what is for our ultimate good is anything that conforms us to the image of Christ. Wow! That’ll change what you expect from God, will it not? We often pray to have our pain taken away and to have an easy life, but it is often the pain and the difficulty that forges in us the image of Christ. You see, my idea of good and God’s idea of good are two different things.

APP

So let me kind of draw all of this together with three applications: First, If God’s answer is guaranteed, that means He will answer EVERY ONE of your prayers . . . ALL OF THEM. He never turns a deaf ear to you, but He loves you too much to give you what you pray for sometimes. But rest assured: His answer is guaranteed!

Second, If God’s answer is superior, He cares more for you than anyone else does. That means that He always helps those who call on Him with what is best for them. There will never be a time when His answer will not be in your best interest. However, (and I really want you to listen to this) there are two things that can prevent you from receiving the best answer.

First, you may be prevented from receiving God’s best by not asking. That is, when you don’t ask God, He does not move in you. He has ordained prayer as the means of receiving from Him. When you don’t ask, He does not work.

Second, you may be prevented from receiving God’s best by not listening. We must always remember that prayer is a conversation. God wants to communicate with us and we must listen to Him.

Last, If God’s answer is always good, that means that your answer will not always be His will. I am reminded here of Paul’s “thorn in the flesh.” This was some physical or spiritual weakness that Paul asked God three times to remove, but God said no. I’m sure that Paul thought that he could have been a more effective apostle without this weakness, but God said, “No, Paul. What you think is good, isn’t good.” So, then, Paul was faced with a choice: Would he surrender to God, or would he pout and doubt. You know what he did? He surrendered and came to the place where he said he “gloried” in his weakness because, when he was weak, then he was strong.

And that’s the choice we face: When we pray and God says no, we can pout and doubt, or we can trust and surrender. We can choose to surrender to the God whose answers are always guaranteed; whose answers are always superior; and whose answers are always good.

VISUALIZATION:

I am an addict! I have discovered that I am addicted to my grandson. Every so often, I just have to get into that Camry and drive 16 hours so I can hold him while he drools on my shirt. I know it’s hard for you to understand, but it makes perfect sense to me.

I just got back from one of those excursions. He’s gotten to the place now, that I can take him out by myself and go do stuff. One of our favorite places to go is Walmart. Ok, I know, if you’re a man here, that’s probably something else you don’t understand, but I have to tell you that Walmart is pretty cool as a Grandson/granddad hangout. Now the Walmart in the little Arkansas town where Jenny lives is doubly blessed because, not only can you ride around and play with the toys in the toy aisle, they even have a place where you can take your kids and ride rides for 50 cents a pop.

Well, he’s not quite old enough to know what’s cool yet, so he loves to ride the little Winnie-the-Pooh airplane. And you know, being a crazy old grandpa, I get to stand there and sing the little Winne-the-Pooh song while he rides. Just in case you’re wondering, the ride will play that song 5 times for each ride, so since I think he rode it about 10 times the other day, I’ve now heard it 50 times in the last 3 weeks. That may explain why this sermon didn’t make any sense, I don’t know.

Anyway, we were there and he had ridden it a couple of times, but he wanted to go again, but granddad was out of quarters so we left, right? No! Not on your life. I got him out, and we went over to the dollar changing machine. Now Riley is very active and easily distracted, so while I’m standing there waiting for my quarters to drop out into the tray, he spies something laying on the floor. It’s an old M&M or skittle that someone dropped who knows when. It’s covered in grime and the dust of a few buffing cycles from the maintenance crew. But that doesn’t matter to Riley. He goes for it and, when he’s about to stick it into his mouth I grab his hand and stop him. You’d have thought I slapped him in the face. He started crying and screaming and acted like I was Jeffrey Dahmer instead of his g-daddy. Here we are a few feet away from Winnie-the-Pooh. I’ve got 4 quarters, enough for two more rides. I’m getting ready to make his day by letting him ride, but he’s standing there screaming over a dirty M&M which would have tasted bad and probably made him sick.

You get the picture? God has good things for us, but we get distracted by the things that we think we need. He wants to give us good things, but if He’s going to give us good things, we have to ask Him for them, and then we have to surrender to His will realizing that, ultimately, He knows what is good for us so much better than we know what is good for ourselves. He will give us our daily bread if we will ask. He’ll do His part, if we will do ours!