Asking God for Things

Jesus told his disciples, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”¹ “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”² “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”³

Jesus encourages us to ask God for anything! God knows how to give gifts. His gifts are always good. His greatest gift to us was, of course, his Son, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. “⁴ There are three gifts listed in this one very popular verse that we will receive: 1) God’s Son, 2) not perishing, and 3) eternal life. The only requirement is that we believe in God—not simply believe that he exists (for even the devil knows he exists!), but that we trust (put our faith, our hope, and our confidence) in God. When we have faith in God, he invites us to live in his Godly kingdom forever as his adopted children. Now, that’s a good gift! Like I said, God knows how to give gifts! And Jesus said in Matthew 7, “Ask, and it will be given to you.”⁵

So, we ask! Why, then, do so many people say that they have asked God for things and God does not give them what they asked for? It is a most important question. Many people lose faith in God over this one. We are told to pray and so we do, but if God does not give us what we pray for, we conclude that there is something wrong with God—either he does not hear us or he does not love us or he has lied to us about this or he does not exist at all—it’s all God’s fault. When we don’t get what we want we assume that God is to blame. Is he?

Probably not. Actually, definitely not. What is the answer, then, to the valid question Why does God not give me what I pray for? Here it is: “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”⁶ What does that mean? We often jump to the conclusion that the word passion is an evil one. It is not. James is saying that we ask for things that we want—which is quite natural. But some of the things we want are bad things and God will certainly not grant us those things because he is a good father and good fathers do not give their children bad things.  Some of the things we ask for are selfish things—things that we just want. They are not necessarily bad things but they are entirely selfish. God will not grant us those things either because he does not want us to be selfish people.

But some of the things we ask for are good things. Why would God not give us the good things that we ask for? Well, the word passion means in a lustful manner, and to lust after something means we want it now! So, perhaps when we ask God for a good thing and we do not receive it, maybe our timing is off.  It could be that God’s answer is Not yet. Another explanation about not receiving the good thing that we ask God for is that he has said yes, but we just can’t see it. Maybe the good thing has happened and we are simply unaware of it.

That’s why God says we must have faith in him. We must trust him and know that he loves to give us good things. Our job is to learn what God wants for us and to desire his good things. Then he promises to give us our greatest desires. David knew about it. He wrote, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”⁷

God knows how to give good gifts. Jesus explained, “If you then, who are 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!”⁸ So ask away! And have faith in God.

¹John 14:13-14    ²John 15:7     ³John 16:23-24    ⁴John 3:16   ⁵Matthew 7:7    ⁶James 4:3   ⁷Psalm 37:4   ⁸Matthew 7:11