Developing Godly Self-ConfidenceSýnishorn

The Posture Of Prayer.

Can you imagine meeting up with a friend on a regular basis and only asking her to do things for you? For her, that would be an awful experience . She’s your friend, not your assistant! Normally, when you get together with a friend, you both get to speak. You work together to move the conversation forward, and to help each other move forward in life. Maybe you share first and tell her what’s been going on in your life, mentioning what you need, but then she gets a chance to share her life and needs. It’s much the same way when we come to God in prayer. He absolutely wants to hear what’s on our hearts, but He also wants us to become part of what He is doing.

Jesus tells us multiple times that we can ask for anything in His name and it will be done for us. This indicates that we definitely should be asking for things, and that we can do so with confidence. However, James 4 calls us out, not just for how we sometimes don’t ask, but also for how we often ask with wrong motives. Too often, we take what Jesus says about asking and turn it into a genie situation, where we think our wish is God’s command. When things feel challenging, uncomfortable, or we think we need something we don’t have, more often than not, what’s happening is that we’re either not asking for something, or we need to realign our hearts with His will.

When Jesus teaches the disciples how to pray in Matthew 6, He tells them to pray “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (v. 10). When we ask God for things, we should really be asking for what lines up with these statements. That means, what we want should line up with what He wants and with what will help usher in His kingdom on earth. Also, when we ask a friend for help, it should be something that’s within their power to do. The same is true with God. He cannot do anything outside of His own character. We have to lean in and know who He is when we present our requests to Him.

Prayer is also an opportunity to partner with God in what He is doing. We like to say that a good pattern to follow in prayer is to first ask for what we need from God, and then to ask for seed from God to sow into His kingdom. When we’re not asking for either of those things, it’s a good gauge to know if we’re just being greedy. If it’s not something we need and it’s not something we can sow into someone else’s life, it’s likely coming from a place of selfish ambition. It’s okay to ask God for what we need, but we also need to remember to ask Him how we can be part of what He’s doing.

God already knows what you need before you even ask for it. But do you know what He is asking you for? Spend a few minutes asking God to give you seed to sow into His kingdom.