Why Ask God – Luke 12:30

Our text speaks of awareness and provision. In particular, Jesus gave several examples of how plants and birds make no provision for themselves. Instead, they trust God for all they need. Our verse says that God already knows what we need. If that is the case, why should we pray for matters that are our concern? Why spend the time and effort to tell God what he already knows? If we follow this path, it is doubtful that we will ever pray again because much of our prayer life consists of making requests to the Almighty.

Our concerns range anywhere from  mundane to very serious. We may feel the need or travel directions not knowing exactly where we are in a certain location. We may be burdened for the life-and-death of someone we hold dear to us. There is no doubt that our Scripture today reminds us that God is already aware of all our concerns and all our needs. Let us examine certain reasons that justify the practice of prayer.

Just because God already knows whatever issues are on our mind at the moment, should not prevent us from talking to him about it. Prayer sets up an allegiance with God. As the Almighty Creator who made the most distant star, we can remind ourselves of his power, of his ability. We are not just praying to hear ourselves rattle obtuse words and phrases. We are presenting to the throne of God for his attention that which has already grabbed our attention. When we pray about an issue, we are saying to God, “let us make a covenant; let us see that which we have hoped for; let us realize together as a team between human and the Almighty a wonderful end result.”

Praying is a way to relieve our tension and stress. When truly seeking God, the ideal is to transfer our emotional reactions to him. God is not sentimental or judgmental about what we want him to see in our lives. God is very concerned how we handle the various steppingstones of our path. When we tell him about our reactions to the issue, he already knows both the reaction and the issue. However, on our part we are offloading whatever is a burden to us on to him. Prayer is a vehicle to properly steer our heart aches away from our inabilities.

As we seek God’s attention, we are giving ourselves the opportunity to praise and worship him. Since God has no inabilities and we do, we are turning our attention to the one who has no limit and deserves the credit for the resolution for whatever is our issue. Prayer lays the groundwork to future alliance with his divine purpose. As we speak to him, we are organizing our thoughts so that hopefully matters are not so unclear. We are not in a game with God seeing how we might outflank him. We are stepping onto his holy ground. We are taking advantage of the opportunity Jesus created from the cross when the veil was torn from top to bottom at his crucifixion. Prior to that time there was a wall between mankind and God’s throne. Afterwards, we are enjoying the great privilege of standing directly before him in his throne room joining our thoughts with what he knows.

God may already know our needs and issues. Prayer is the means by which we activate his response to what is on our heart. He knows and now we know that he knows.  There is a major different between God’s knowledge about us and the connection we make with him to implement his response. For instance, a mother may know how to cook delicious meals. She may be aware that at the end of the day her child will be hungry. It is not until the child comes to the dinner table and gratefully receives what is already there for him. God’s abilities are quite different from our prayer life that sparks his abilities.

The plant and the bird have certain needs. The provision for those needs is a one-way street. God wants the plant and the bird to be nourished. He initiates what is necessary for them to be sustained. They have no ability to communicate their needs to the creator. This is quite different for a human being. We have a tendency to ruminate, to fuse and stress about what is and what we want changes to be. Without prayer there is no vehicle for us to be rid of our over-concerned reactions.

Just as a child will say to the parent, “I don’t feel good,” he is also saying, “you have the knowledge and ability to make me feel better.” That’s what prayer is for us! When we do pray, we are saying to God, “this is not right; please fix this for me.” After there is a response from the Heavenly Father, we cement another connection with him by expressing our gratitude. Our prayer must not be limited to fixing things. A true prayer life does not find it unusual to reflecting glory and appreciation for his friendship, for his parental concern about us, for the marvelous creative work he has done all around us. When we ask God to fix something in our lives, we are also asking him to fix our lives. A regular prayer life creates a sensitivity between our spirit and his Holy Spirit. We are able to take advantage of the opportunity whereby we can call him Our Father. Jesus did it. Now we can do it.