{"id":7329,"date":"2020-01-06T16:54:05","date_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=7329"},"modified":"2020-01-06T16:54:05","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T22:54:05","slug":"the-reason-we-dont-ask-god-for-what-we-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2020\/01\/the-reason-we-dont-ask-god-for-what-we-need\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reason We Don\u2019t Ask God for What We Need"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Perhaps one of the greatest reasons we don\u2019t ask God for what we want or need is because we\u2019re afraid that he won\u2019t do it. We fear that he\u2019ll say no, that he won\u2019t answer the way we asked, or that he won\u2019t even answer at all. Unanswered prayer is perhaps one of the most perplexing parts of prayer. Why would God invite us to ask him for anything and promise us that he is listening, only to abandon us at the altar of our asking? This is no small thing\u2014and a big reason why some people lose their faith. Any attempt to cover this dilemma with a Christian bumper sticker only does more harm than good.
\nSo, what do we do when we come to God seeking help, and help doesn\u2019t seem to come?
\nAs a pastor and follower of Jesus for many years now, I\u2019ve had a front-row seat to God\u2019s miracles and movements. I\u2019ve prayed for friends facing a terminal diagnosis and seen complete healing. I\u2019ve prayed for marriages that were all but over and seen them restored and transformed by God. I\u2019ve prayed for friends facing year after soul-crushing year of infertility only to celebrate the birth of their children. I\u2019ve seen God answer impossible requests with his power and faithfulness. Too many to count! And .\u00a0.\u00a0. I\u2019ve experienced the other side of prayer, as well. I\u2019ve prayed for healings that never came. I\u2019ve prayed for jobs that didn\u2019t emerge. I\u2019ve prayed for marriages that didn\u2019t make it. I\u2019ve prayed for friends to find Jesus who still haven\u2019t. While I have a lifetime of evidence of God\u2019s faithfulness, I also have a lifetime of experience with the mystery of God. I simply don\u2019t know why God does what he does or why he doesn\u2019t always do what I want him to. And any attempt to spackle the holes that lack of understanding has left in my faith with thin theology does a disservice to the deeper faith and trust that God wants to grow in me.
\n\"\"
\nIt is impossible for me to understand why God hasn\u2019t answered all of my honest and earnest prayers. And it\u2019s irresponsible for me to try to tell you why he hasn\u2019t answered yours. It is true that sometimes God uses your asking and waiting and asking and waiting to grow a deeper faith in you. And to grow deeper desires in you. It is true that sometimes God answers your prayers in unexpected ways to lead you to something far greater than you even knew you could ask for. It is true that sometimes there is sin between us and God, sin that keeps us from intimacy with God. Unowned and unconfessed sin keeps us from experiencing the full blessing of God in our lives. Perhaps this is why Jesus taught us to ask for what we need and for forgiveness in the same breath when we pray.<\/p>\n

All those things are true\u2014and yet, I still don\u2019t know why God answers some prayers and doesn\u2019t answer others in ways that we hoped for or can recognize. But I do know that right after Jesus taught us how to pray, he taught us how to keep on praying. In Luke 11:5-8, Jesus tells the story of someone waking up their neighbor at midnight by banging on the door because he had an out-of-town guest and was out of bread. The scenario is absurd. Who would do such a thing? I feel bad asking our neighbor Joan if she can throw back any one of the ninety-three frisbees we\u2019ve thrown into her yard. And that\u2019s in the middle of the day! I can\u2019t imagine banging on her door at midnight, expecting her to get up, come down, and head outside to snag a rogue frisbee. Jesus is making a point: When we are desperate, when we have no other options, even when we have knocked on the door of heaven for thirty minutes\u2014at midnight\u2014we must not give up. Because God will respond. In one way or another, he will respond. Jesus\u2019 words tell us so:<\/p>\n

Yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. – Luke 11:8<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prayer is an unapologetic act of audacity. The willingness to keep on knocking, keep on asking, keep on trusting, and keep on believing, even when you don\u2019t get what you want or the way you want it, is the alchemy of faith and persistence. It means having the faith to take God up on his invitation to ask him for whatever you need\u2014and the tenacity to hold him to it. To reach out (faith) and to not let go (persistence). To wade in the waters of the mystery of God while standing on the very promises of God. To not lose heart and to not lose hope while holding on. Keep knocking. Keep asking. Keep believing. Even if and even after it doesn\u2019t go your way.<\/p>\n

\n

You’ve been reading with Jarrett Stevens from his new book Praying Through: Overcoming the Obstacles that Keep Us from God<\/em>. Keep reading with a free excerpt of chapter 1 here.<\/a> You can also take the Seasons of the Soul quiz<\/a> at jarrettstevens.com to find how what season of prayer you are in right now.
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps one of the greatest reasons we don\u2019t ask God for what we want or need is because we\u2019re afraid that he won\u2019t do it. We fear that he\u2019ll say no, that he won\u2019t answer the way we asked, or … <\/p>\n

Read moreThe Reason We Don\u2019t Ask God for What We Need<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":8323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[230,283,402],"yoast_head":"\nThe Reason We Don\u2019t Ask God for What We Need - The Disciplemaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2020\/01\/the-reason-we-dont-ask-god-for-what-we-need\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Reason We Don\u2019t Ask God for What We Need - The Disciplemaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps one of the greatest reasons we don\u2019t ask God for what we want or need is because we\u2019re afraid that he won\u2019t do it. 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