If my three-year-old son came to me and asked me to buy him a poisonous snake because he wanted to play with it, I wouldn’t do it. He simply doesn’t know how to avoid being bitten by such a dangerous reptile. 

If my teenage son arrogantly demanded luxuries like clothes, a motorcycle, a car, and a large allowance, I wouldn’t readily agree. His demanding manner would hinder my willingness to give. There’s a right way to ask, and that wasn’t it. 

I do my best to give my children what they need, as long as it’s something good for them. 

We are God’s children and of course, God wants to do the same for us. God wants to fulfill our requests and give us what our hearts desire. This is what the Bible says:  

22We’re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we’re doing what He said, doing what pleases him. 

God will not grant us requests that would cause us harm, endanger our lives, or tempt us away from His guidance. 

People often ask for financial help and then they don’t receive it. Perhaps it’s precisely because a comfortable life with a lot of money can lure people away from God. 

We cannot see around the corner, but God can. God sees what things can do to us. He knows what is best for us and will not give us something that will harm us. 

And if we stand stubbornly with our hands on our hips demanding things, especially because others have them and we don’t, chances are that God won’t give them to us. 

How we ask God is important. If we want Him to answer our prayers, we should live in a way that pleases Him. If we live outside the will of God and do whatever we want to, we make it difficult for God to give. 

When our children help with chores around the house and do their schoolwork and live reasonably with each other, and they ask for something extra, I want to give it to them. God also wants to give to us if we live within His will. 

When we live close to God, we get to know Him. We know what He likes and what He doesn’t like. But more than that, we know what we can ask of Him and what we should not ask. 

I know I can’t ask Him to let me win the Lotto this week. It’s not His style to drop loads of money in people’s laps. 

Let us live in obedience to God’s way. Let us remove anything inconsistent with our calling as His children. Let us be serious about getting to know God’s heart, because then we will know what we can ask of God. Then we will know how to ask. God will then give us what our heart desires.  

Scripture
1 John 3:18-24 

Reflection
Do you know what you may ask for?
Do you know how to ask?
Do you believe that God will give? 

Prayer
Father, I realise that I do not live within Your will completely, and, therefore, do not always know how and what I should ask for. Help me to live closer to You and to know Your heart, so that I will ask in the right way and then receive. Amen.