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Ask God: Pray is truly a gift from God. It is a privilege to pray to God and to spend time with Him. God created us to fellowship. He listens and He hears and He answers prayers.

Good Evening Reader,

God loves it when we come to Him. Prayer shows our faith in Him. Our faith grows and our confidence grows as we spend time in prayer with God.

May God bless you and keep you in His love.

All Glory to God.

Elvin

Prayer is a Beautiful Gift from God.

Prayer is a Gift

Prayer is one of the most powerful and personal gifts God has given to His children. It is more than just speaking words—it is entering into a sacred conversation with the Creator of the universe. Praying to our God and Creator is truly a privilege.

Through prayer, we draw near to God and deepen our relationship with Him. Just as a child runs to a loving parent for guidance, comfort, and help, so we are invited to come boldly to our Heavenly Father (Hebrews 4:16).

Jesus Himself gave us a model prayer and gave us an example of rising early to a quiet place to pray with the Father (Mark 1:35). If the Son of God needed prayer, how much more do we?

Prayer not only changes circumstances but also transforms us. It aligns our hearts with God's will, calms our anxious thoughts, and reminds us that we are not alone. Scripture tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to pray with thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6), and to bring everything to God in prayer. Note the word "everything." We are instructed to pray about everything.

When we pray, we open the door for God's peace, power, and presence to work in our lives. Prayer is not a religious ritual—it is the heartbeat of a believer's walk with God. It is our lifeline and our strength.

God's Desire is to Meet Our Needs

Imagine your child in pain but unable to tell you what's wrong. A baby may cry and squirm in discomfort, but without words, you're left guessing, feeling helpless, and heartbroken. You long to help and fix the problem, but it is made difficult by the child's inability to express the need.

Now think of God, our Heavenly Father. When we, His children, carry burdens and never bring them to Him in prayer, how must He feel? He loves us even more deeply than we love our own children. He invites us to come to Him with every need and every worry, for He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).

Yet sometimes we stay silent. Just as a parent aches for a child in distress, God longs for us to draw near and pour out our hearts to Him. Prayer isn't just for answers—it's for connection, comfort, and healing.

Pain for our hurting loved ones happens all around us. This week, I watched a father share with a men's group about his son who was severely injured—mentally and physically—in military service.

As he spoke, the pain on his face was unmistakable. His voice trembled with emotion as he described his son's suffering, and every word revealed the deep ache of a father. It wasn't just the injuries to his son but also the helplessness of watching his son endure his pain. The room grew quiet as we felt the weight of his burden. In that moment, we saw the heart of a loving father, broken by the suffering of his son.

You Have Not Because You Ask Not

Imagine a child standing in front of a table filled with gifts, each one wrapped and labeled with his name. But the child never asks or reaches out to receive the gifts. The gifts remain untouched, not because they weren't available, but because he never asked.

This is what James meant when he wrote, "You have not because you ask not" (James 4:2). God, our loving Father, desires to bless His children with wisdom, strength, love, and peace. Yet many of us go through life burdened and lacking—not because God is unwilling, but because we never come to Him in prayer.

We try to handle things on our own, forgetting that the very help we need is just a prayer away. God delights when His children come boldly and humbly, trusting His goodness. Prayer is not about prying blessings from a reluctant God; it's about receiving what He's already eager to give.

It is our responsibility to bring our needs to God in prayer. God is the one who answers, and then it becomes our responsibility to receive the answer with faith and obedience. We must ask, but we must also be open to receive.

Why Do We Need to Pray?

God invites us to come to Him in prayer because it shows our dependence, trust, and faith in Him. Though He knows our needs before we ask (Matthew 6:8), He still desires that we come to Him in prayer.

Prayer is not about informing God—it's about building a relationship with Him. Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7). God responds to those who seek Him with a sincere heart.

When we pray, we acknowledge that He is our source and the One who holds our future. Philippians 4:6 reminds us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

God wants us to come, not as beggars, but as beloved children, trusting Him for every need and desire.

The Model Prayer a.k.a. The Lord's Prayer

Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer as a model, not just a mantra. When His disciples asked, "Lord, teach us to pray," He responded with what we now call the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:1–4; Matthew 6:9–13).

He wasn't just giving words to recite—He was teaching us how to approach God in prayer with the right heart and priorities. The prayer begins with worship: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name," reminding us that prayer starts with reverence and relationship.

It then moves to surrender: "Your kingdom come, Your will be done," teaching us to align our desires with God's purposes. The request for "daily bread" shows we should bring our needs to Him, trusting Him daily.

Then, asking for forgiveness and the strength to forgive others reminds us to keep our hearts pure. Lastly, we seek protection from temptation and evil.

Jesus taught this prayer to guide us in how to pray, not to limit us to these exact words, but to give us a pattern: worship, surrender, dependence, confession, and protection. We can pray it word for word or use it as a framework to shape our own conversations with God. It's a simple yet powerful guide for drawing closer to our Father.

Persistence in Praying Gets Results

Immediately after teaching the Lord's Prayer, Jesus tells a parable about persistence in praying. Jesus encourages His followers not to give up but to approach God with confidence and perseverance.

"And he said to them, 'Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, "Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him"; and he will answer from within, "Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything"? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence (or persistence) he will rise and give him whatever he needs'" (Luke 11:5-8).

Jesus teaches believers to be persistent in prayer because persistence shows faith, trust, and dependence on God's timing and goodness. Praying to God shows our faith in God. Persistent prayer shows even greater faith in God.

The message is clear: keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. In the very next verses, Jesus says, "For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened" (Luke 11:9–10).

Persistence doesn't mean God hasn't heard us—it shows we believe He will answer. Jesus reinforces this in Luke 18:1, where He tells a parable so "they should always pray and not give up." God isn't annoyed by our persistence; He delights in it. He uses it to strengthen our faith and draw us closer to Him, reminding us that delays are not denials, and His timing is perfect.

Prayer is our gift from God. He delights when we go to Him in prayer and spend time with Him. "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you" (James 4:8).

Elvin

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Growing Spiritually pleases God.

Ask God For Help

Christian faith

Reader,

Hosea said his people were destroyed for lack of knowledge. Knowledge give believers and non-believers a choice. When a person does not know, they cannot choose.

Feel free to forward this lesson to your friends and family.

Grow in the knowledge of God.

Elvin

Send your comments to elvin.aycock@AskGodForHelp.net and let me know what you think of the lessons.

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