I love prayer. But let’s be honest. Prayer can be hard at times. Still, I love the invitation to speak with the author and Creator of the universe. I’ve never had a king or president reach out to me for conversation—but daily I have the greatest king, the greatest leader, the most intelligent author and Creator of all things, both seen and unseen, reach out and want to discuss with me my life, my family, my career, and the people around me and his love for them. This is an incredible truth that is beyond my capability to understand.
In our day and age, it seems as though everyone is busy . . . sometimes too busy. Many people I spend time with want to talk about their lives, their hopes, their fears, and their future. And I love to listen. It is an honor to be trusted with such important revelations from someone’s life. There are times when I, too, need someone to listen when I want to express myself . . . and God as a Father opens up his ears every day and invites me to unpack with him everything that is on my mind and in my heart. He loves to hear and respond to it all.
Have you ever spent time with a three-year-old and listened to the little one prattle on and on about what they were playing, complete with all the details and ideas bubbling forth from their young, creative imagination? Or how about a high school senior explaining their anticipated next steps, next chapters, hopes, concerns, dreams, and plans? Have you ever sat with an aging parent or friend in their last few years—or months—as they reflected on their life, allowing you to listen in on the memories that tumbled out, to their historical memoir spilling out as you listened?
The Lord of the universe, Creator and sustainer of all things, longs to hear from you the same way you patiently listen to a three-year-old, a high school senior, or an aging friend or loved one. He delights in us! The one who “sings over us” (Zephaniah 3:17) and has “engraved [your name] on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:16) experiences ceaseless joy over you. Our Father loves to walk with you and listen. Yet he also longs to reveal himself to you. Jesus shows this to us in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” The time we spend with the Lord is precious to him. He wants to reveal himself in increasingly meaningful ways, ways he opens up through his Word and prayer.
God invites you into conversation with him! God loves partnership and created us with this in mind, that we would be partners together with him in his work. But how can we understand the partnership if we don’t ask the Father how he wants us to partner with him? Jesus said more than once, “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” (Matthew 11:15), and he also stated of himself, “…the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his father doing…” (John 5:19).
Jesus knew how to partner with his Father: he asked. One of the most frequently used words for prayer in the New Testament is the Greek aiteo, which carries the translation “ask.” It is used in this way over sixty times in the New Testament. Jesus asked his Father many things; this is something he had to have done over and over again every day, for, as he also said, “I . . . do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31).
What a great model for us to follow! We can ask the Father anything, and he hears us, longing to give us the answer. Have you ever stopped and asked God, “Father, what would please you in terms of this decision?” It is imperative that we, as disciples of Jesus, follow the example of Jesus and learn to ask the Father about the things we are trying to decide.
Let me hasten to point out, however, that we can easily take this a bit too far down the road? For example, if I have a choice for breakfast between oatmeal and eggs, do I need to ask the Father about that one? Probably not. When I’m shopping and have to decide among brands of a certain item, do I pray about that? Again, probably not. However, there are decisions we make every day that include one or more choices that have important direction attached to them. Those decisions could be prayed about. The more often we get into the habit of asking the Lord about our direction, the more we will know which choices to ask about. Bottom line: when in doubt, ask!
There is a scenario from the Old Testament book of Joshua that informs us about how necessary it is to ask the Father about our plans. When Joshua took the leadership of Israel after Moses’s death, he immediately sought the Lord about how to take the land God had promised to the Israelites through Abraham. When Joshua asked, the Lord answered, and when the Lord answered Joshua acted on those words with obedience and Israel prevailed. At one point in the taking of the land, Israel was routing every nation around them, and some of the nearby nations became afraid of Israel and their God. Gibeon, a nation nearby, decided to pull a fast one on Joshua and the Israelites. Here is a synopsis of the story from Joshua 9: The people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse: they went as a delegation whose donkeys were loaded with worn-out sacks and old wineskins, cracked and mended. They put worn and patched sandals on their feet and wore old clothes. All the bread in their food supply was dry and moldy. Then they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, “We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us . . .”
The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath. Three days after they had made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors.
The Israelites were duped because they thought they knew the truth—they went by appearances and believed lies because they failed to inquire of the Lord. Will God give us wisdom and insight into matters we are not sure about? You bet he will! James states in the first chapter of his book, verse 5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” The key, of course, is to ask. James also points out, “You do not have because you do not ask God” (James 4:2).