A Reason to Pray

A few years ago I was talking with a friend about God and prayer. He told me that he had only truly prayed once. When I asked him what happened he said, “I was living in the city and I needed to get around, so I prayed to God for a bike. A few days later I was in the apartment laundry room and there was a bike with a ‘free’ sign on it.”

“Why haven’t you prayed since,” I asked.

He replied, “I figured if prayer was that powerful, I should save it for special occasions.”

I think this should be reason to pray on more occasions not less. When we pray we do two things: we make known our requests to God (Phil. 4:6), and we make ourselves aware of our specific needs. God is always at work, giving us what we need. When we ask Him for specific things, we are more aware when he provides them.

There may be times and reasons that God doesn’t give us the things that we ask for. In Matthew 7:11, Jesus tells us that if we know how to give good gifts to our children, “how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Jesus also says, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). God is generous. When we ask, God answers in love so that we will be blessed and praise Him.

Try asking God for something specific this week; ask for physical needs, wisdom, encouragement, or something else. See if He responds. It may increase your faith.