Only the Best…According to Who?

Colossians 2:6-15 & Luke 11:1-13

Lord, Teach us to pray

Jesus is off praying in a certain place and when he finished the disciples come to him and ask “Lord teach us to pray…”  They have seen him perform miracles beyond imagination and they see that he regularly prays, so maybe if they can pray like him they can do the same.

So he gives them the words to pray – we know them right….Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.  Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.

This was it…pray like this.  It’s the model of prayer that he was giving them and us.  First, give glory to God and His Kingdom.  Second, ask just for what you need each day – nothing more and nothing less.

Third, ask forgiveness and offer forgiveness.  Last but not least ask to be led away from temptation.

These were the words but there was more…

Knock and the Door will be Open

Jesus continues to give them more information on how to pray.  Go to God and ask.  Knock on heaven’s door with a boldness that tells God I trust you to give me what I need.

So how do you and I do with this kind of trust…Do we take everything to God in prayer?  How often do we knock?  Do we ask for what we want or for what we need?

Pray with Perseverance

Jesus continues with a parable about a man going to his friend in the night and asking for bread because he has a guest and nothing to feed him.  Jesus gives an explanation of this parable and says,  the friend gave the man the bread not because he was a friend but because he was persistent.  This is interesting to me because growing up if I bugged Mom and Dad about something I usually didn’t get it.  Ask them once and let them decide, that was the end of the story.  Begging wasn’t something they appreciated.  Yet, it seems like Jesus is saying, go ahead be persistent.  Ask, seek, knock…the door will be opened.

Now comes the tricky part…or at least for me it is.  He might very well open the door but we may not get exactly what we think we need.

Even when God says “No” we can take peace because He only gives us what is best for us, just like a loving Father.

Again let us think of God as a loving Parent that wants only the best for His children.  Now children don’t always know what is best.  When I was young, I did not like cooked vegetables.  There was something about the texture that just didn’t set well with me.  So I would avoid them at all costs but then I would still want to have my dessert.  My parents didn’t agree.  I had to eat the vegetables if I wanted dessert.  Why?  They were just being mean – right?  Of course not.  I needed to eat the vegetables to be healthy and they knew it.  They knew what was best.

There was a story I heard once about a young man who was constantly asking his parent for his own car.  Every time he would hear of a cheap car for sale, he would go to them and ask, almost beg, for them to buy it for him.  They always said no.  He would get so angry with them!  He thought they were just not being fair.  They didn’t love him or they would buy it.  When the young man graduated from high school his parents gave him a small gift box all wrapped.  He opened the box to find a set of keys to a car that his father had been working on and fixing up for him.  They walked out to the garage and there it was, shiny with a brand new paint job and when he started it up it ran perfectly.  His parents explained that they had not wanted him to have the old junker cars he kept asking for because they were not safe or reliable.  This car, although not new, was in great shape and they trusted it to run safely for him.  They had known what was best for him all along.

God always gives His Best to those who leave the choice with Him.

This is what happens to us sometimes when we pray to God and ask for things or situations.  We think we know exactly what we need but in reality it is only what we want.  God knows our needs and will supply those needs if we will just trust him.  God wants only the best for us, even if it means saying no to us when we ask.  Sometimes we get an immediate and clear answer to our prayers and praise God because it is just how we imagined it.  BUT sometime the answer God gives is “no” whether we like it or not.  AND yet, sometimes God answers with “just wait” the best is yet to come.