Rogate

When Jesus tells you, “Ask, and you will receive” this is nothing other than an admonition to pray. God wants you to pray. He commands that you pray. And He promises to hear and answer your prayers. But many Christians are confused by prayer. How does it work? How do we do it? What should we pray for? What words should we use? The answers to these questions can be found in the explanation to the Lord’s Prayer.

“Our Father who art in heaven.” What does this mean? “With these words, God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true Father and that we are His true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear father.” Prayer is not hard. We might overcomplicate it, but the model for prayer is that of dear children asking their dear father. When little children make their needs known, they don’t worry about finding the right words. They don’t worry about finding the right time. They just ask, loudly and boldly. God wants you to do the same.

The chief thing that is required for prayer, then, is not the right words or the right timing. The chief thing is faith: believing that God is who He says He is—your loving Father. When I was traveling last week, I met a man who told me, “I know that God is mad at me.” I asked him, “Did Jesus die for your sins?” “Yes, of course He did.” “So if the Father sent His Son to die for your sins, how could He be mad at you because of them?”

Prayer doesn’t require the right words. It doesn’t require waiting until you’ve been good and deserving of God’s love. Prayer simply requires faith. The basis for your prayer is God’s promise, not your worthiness. Jesus says to you, “Ask and you will receive. The Father Himself loves you. If you 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” (Jn 16:24, 27; Mt 7:11).

It is true: If God had not so commanded us, who would dare to pray? But with His command and His promise, we are bold to pray, not because we deserve to be heard, but because God has promised to hear. This is why it is wicked to pray to the saints. In doing so, we would confess that our heavenly Father is either too busy or too angry to hear our prayers Himself. To ask St. Anthony to help you find your keys confesses that your Father in heaven can’t be bothered with such trivial things. To pray to Mary for mercy, because she, as a mother, is more likely to be compassionate shows a lack of trust in God’s tender care. Prayer begins as an act of faith. “I believe that God is my Father. What’s more, I believe that He desires to be gracious to me and give me every good thing. Why? Because I deserve it? No. Because He has promised.”

But many Christians want to know, “What’s the point of prayer?” If God already knows everything that I need before I ask, why bother asking? If God desires more good things for me than I could ever begin to imagine, why should I ask Him for the things I think I need?” It is true that one of the benefits of prayer is that it changes our will and thinking to align with the will of God. But that’s not all that prayer does. According to Scripture, God permits us to obtain things from He through prayer that we would not otherwise have received. Prayer offered in faith is a key to God’s fatherly heart and all the treasures of His grace. And when God hears our prayers, its not as though He has to rethink His eternal plan to answer. Prayer does not force God to change His mind and bless us against His will. Instead, it is a means appointed by God through which He accomplishes His eternal plan to provide and care for His children. Does prayer have a point? Does it change anything? Yes. Jesus Himself tells us, “Ask, and you will receive.” And elsewhere Scriptures says, “The prayer of a righteous man availeth much” (James 5:16).

How exactly does this work? If God doesn’t change, and He already knows what He will do, how does prayer avail much? Because God says that it does. Once again, this is a matter of faith. And so, we pray, believing that God desires to give good gifts to His children and that He has promised to hear and answer our petitions. Don’t let reason rob you of your comfort in believing that your prayer in Jesus’ name can conquer heaven itself and obtain everything you ask from God.

Your doubting heart may ask, “How can I compel God to do what I desire?” But in truth, you do not compel God. Out of unending love, God of His own free will has already bound Himself through His promises to you. And what He promises, that He must keep. He cannot lie. He can create what He wishes. He can do more than we can ask or think. He speaks and it is done. He commands, and it stands fast. He calls into existence what does not yet exist.

But though God has promised to answer our prayers, it is certainly true that no sinner could hope to be heard apart from the merit and intercession of Christ. Apart from Christ, we would not dare to pray, and Scripture tells us that God does not hear sinners. Your conscience would tell you that you are a sinner. Your hands are too stained to lift up to God. Were you not born an enemy of God? How would an enemy dare to ask for good gifts? But thanks be to God that His Word does not command us to look at our own righteousness and worthiness in prayer, but to rely entirely on the worthiness and merit of Jesus, our Intercessor. This is why we often conclude our prayers with “in Jesus’ name, amen.” Even though we are underserving of God’s mercy, Jesus Himself has promised that when we pray in His name, we will be heard.

Finally, it is easy to be dissuaded from prayer at times because sometimes it seems as though God does not answer or give us the things for which we pray. Years ago, I prayed for a friend to be delivered from cancer. And then he died. Why didn’t God answer my prayer? But He did answer. When we pray to be delivered from evil, we generally have a very specific, immediate evil in mind. But God has our eternal deliverance in mind. When we pray for good things and don’t receive them immediately, it means that God has even better things in store. The prodigal son prayed to become a servant in his father’s house, but instead was received as a dear son. Moses begged to enter earthly Canaan, but instead was taken up into heavenly Canaan. God not only delivered by friend from cancer, He delivered him from all sin, sorrow, and suffering forever.

Therefore, when we ask God for the things we need, we do so with the faith that also says, “Thy will be done,” knowing eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it even entered into the heart of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. And so we pray, “Thy will be done, O Lord.” And what is the will of God? He desires that none would perish, but that all would turn from their sin and be saved. He desires that you would believe in the One whom He has sent, the Lord Jesus, and that by believing, you might have life in His name. And of course, with eternal life comes every joy and every blessing. Amen.