Heavenly Petitions

Is it ever wrong to ask God for something? I think most of us wonder about this from time to time. We think to ourselves, "my problem/need/desire can't be important enough to bother the creator and ruler of the world over." In fact, I think there is a strong tendency in the human heart to abstain from prayers of petition because such prayers seem to reflect a weakness on our part. Well, what about that? In fact that is the point of prayers of petition; they do indeed reflect our weakness, because we are weak. Without him we can do nothing. He holds all things together. These are biblical truths that we give lip service to, but our pride in not taking our petitions to God exposes the lie in our affirmation of these truths.

What about the idea that God's too big and my petition is too small? Does that carry weight? Well, let's see: he's the God who clothes the lilies of the field which are here today and gone tomorrow; he's the God who knows when a single sparrow falls from the sky; he's the God who's interested enough in you to count the exact number of the hairs on your head. No, I don't think the "God's too big, my petitions are too small" argument carries any weight.

But, if you are still hesitant to take all your cares to the throne of God, let me give you one care that you should have no doubt about your need for help in addressing and God's interest in hearing and responding to it. That care is the condition of your heart. You are powerless to improve it, you are prone to do harm to it, and only God can repair and keep it. What is more, God wants to repair and keep it. So, if you are remiss to take your petitions to God, leave this one out of your list of "I'll take care of that myself", and rush to his throne, and lay it at his, and by the power of Christ's shed blood he will heal your heart and keep it always fixed upon him. At least cast that care on him.