Ask, and you shall receive, says the Bible. So, I pray but receive nothing. This upsets me, and my head starts telling me that prayer doesn’t work because, look, you didn’t receive anything.

Next time, people helped me a little and said that if you pray, you must do it in God’s name. So, I started ending each prayer with: “I ask this in Jesus’ Name only.” Yet my inbox remained completely empty.

I realised that somewhere I was still not getting something right. My prayer was not yet in line with how it should be done correctly.

James helped me to look at the way I pray: ¹ … because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves.

I feel that I pray and ask and beg, but I get nothing. And then I want to start throwing my toys around, or I get discouraged and stop asking. Sometimes I think I’m not good enough, so I don’t receive something.

But that’s not why our prayers are sometimes not answered and we don’t get a response. The problem is the reason at the basis of our prayer. For what reason did you get down on your knees?

Are you acting like a naughty child pulling on your mom’s clothes to get attention and screaming: I want, I want? Is your prayer just about you? Will the result of the prayer fulfil your needs only?

Then chances are your prayer will not be answered. One translation says that we do not receive because we come to prayer with corrupt motives and seek only to fulfil our selfish desire.

Wow, these accusations are a bit harsh – I don’t see myself only with these motives when I kneel before God in prayer. And probably not you, either. And then I wonder, can I ask God for anything?

Yes, we can ask God with prayer and supplication, but we also have to make sure that our motives in the background and why we pray are pure. We have to make sure that it’s not always about me and my desires. We must make sure that if our prayers are answered, they also serve the rest of God’s Kingdom.

The first step is to pray. Then we must make sure that we are praying for the right reasons and that it is not about selfish desires. Yes, may our prayers be answered one by one because we put others first and our needs second.

Scripture
James 4:1-6

Reflection
What do you put first in your prayer?
What selfishness sometimes rears its head in your prayer?
How can you pack it away for now?

Prayer
Father, I know my prayers are mostly about myself and my needs. Help me to balance my prayer by making room for others’ needs. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.