Ask For It

Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.   -Matthew 6:8

Why do you hold out on asking God for what you need? Why is bringing your requests to Him so terrifying?

It’s a vulnerable thing to stretch wide your hopes and wonder whether you’ll be wounded.

There are intimate requests. They mean the most to you, and so you’re hesitant to bring them before God and hand them over.

But you cannot keep it from God. He knows what is at your core, because He made you. He knows everything about you, and as He formed you in your mother’s womb, He intimately placed these needs inside of you. Nothing is hidden from Him, nothing can be hidden from Him as to your Creator the darkness is as light.

He isn’t going to take your most treasured desires and requests and air them out to the world. He isn’t going to trample your heart, either. He knows, and He sees, everything that you’re lacking, everything you long for.

Needs are what you cannot live without. What you must have to function and exist. These are vital pieces that stir you to respond to them, perhaps even subconsciously. Maybe you don’t even understand why you long for things you can’t quite place a finger on or define. Maybe you can’t name the need, but know that it is embedded in importance.

Prayer is simple communication. It’s honesty, opening up to your Father and trusting Him with the exposure of yourself. And God wants intimacy with you. He wants this communication, is waiting for you to bring what’s thrumming in your heart to Him. Tell him what you want, and then in the same breath, tell Him how you are afraid. He can handle it. He can also help.

God put what you want within you. He is all around, under and within. Do not be afraid to share your heart. You can boldly come before the throne and approach with confidence that He is protecting and defending you, His child, which includes hearing what’s on your heart and the things that you need. The situation that just doesn’t seem to go away. The mountains that need to be moved. The longing for increased faith. The strength to even believe. He has promised that He will meet you where you are most in need.

Get alone with God and don’t hold back. It’s amazing how much lighter you will feel by simply getting the deep, hidden thoughts off your chest. And there, in your openness and trust, is where He can begin to tend to those things. He is a good Father, who knows precisely how to bring His best to you. So do not fear to give Him the treasures you hold so close. You can depend on Him. Speak and share, and then watch in wonder at what He does with your offering.