Just Ask

Our boys got new tablets for Christmas, and if I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a million times: “Can I download this game?” I don’t understand why the 20,000 games they already have downloaded aren’t interesting enough, but alas, they keep asking for more.

We have parental restrictions set up on their tablets, so we have to approve everything they download. For some reason, the request will only pop up on one parent’s device—and it’s almost never the one who is sitting with the child. Typing the password in on their device doesn’t work either. This always seems to happen right when we’re in the middle of something, so we keep saying, “Okay, we’re going to fix this later—just play what you’ve got for now.”

But these little fellas we’re raising have some pretty strong wills, and they keep asking again and again. While we haven’t figured out the glitches yet, and sometimes we don’t download what they want right away—I bet you can guess it—we’ve definitely said yes to many of their requests due to their persistence.

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the story of the persistent widow who kept bringing her plea to an unjust judge. He eventually caved to her request just because she wouldn’t leave him alone! The persistent widow reminds parents of their persistent kids, who ask over and over for things they want without hesitation. Sometimes they get what they ask for; sometimes they don’t—at least not right away.

But what about when they’re hungry? Every good parent makes sure their child’s needs are met immediately. Surely good parents are better than an unjust judge—giving their kids what they need and often allowing them to have good things they want, too.

Yet Jesus tells us that God loves us even more than this—certainly more than an unjust judge, but also more than any parent loves their child.

Jesus encourages us to be persistent in our prayers, to ask over and over. He reassures us that our Father in heaven wants us to have good things. Just like kids who beg their parents for what they want without hesitation, we can take everything to God: both the good things we need and the desires of our hearts. This doesn’t make Him angry, and it isn’t selfish to tell Him about our dreams. If what we want isn’t good for us, He lovingly responds with “no” while guiding us toward what is best for our lives.

He’s a good Father. He loves you, cares about your dreams and interests, and wants you to experience good things—even more than the best human parents who have ever walked the earth.

Are you open and honest with Him about everything on your heart?

Take a moment to reflect on the scriptures below, then pause to approach God in prayer about the dreams in your heart:

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.
“There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’”
Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?”
Luke 18:1-7 NLT

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!”
1 John 3:1a NLT

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
Matthew 7:7-11 NLT