Why do we have to ask the Lord for what we need?

Matthew 7:7-8
⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV)

If my father in Heaven knows what I need before I even ask, why do I have to ask? Wouldn’t it be easier if God would simply supply my needs without me asking? Why does God do this?

We could ask the same about prayer. To pray is to share my thoughts with the One who already knows my thoughts, yet we are asked to pray. And the Scripture reminds us that when we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit helps us. So God goes so far as to give us Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit so that we can pray to Him, sharing with Him what He already knows. It just seems a bit strange.

The Bible says the power of life and death rests on our tongue. To speak, our mind must form thoughts based on what we know, remember, and believe. As the Spirit teaches us, we gain knowledge. As the Spirit guides us in this knowledge, we find wisdom. As the Spirit helps us to pray, we force our mind away from the thoughts of fear and anxiety brought on by whatever circumstance in order to attach ourselves to the thoughts based on our knowledge and wisdom given by the Spirit.

To ask God for anything requires me to turn my thoughts toward Him and away from anger, fear, rejection, lack, and all those things the enemy uses to keep my eyes off of Jesus. God knows that asking God for whatever requires us to remember, meditate, put faith in what the Spirit has given us in knowledge and wisdom.

Without speaking the words, our mind too easily remains affixed to the ungodly thoughts of fear and discontent. We have been designed physiologically so that to speak forces our brain a different direction. Spiritually, the Word says we will eat the fruit of our own lips. Our words will build us up or tear us down.

Asking the Lord for what we need fills our minds with His promises to do just that. We can’t have this thought without remembering and choosing to believe that He is God, able to do all things. We choose to believe the Spirit when He tells us that our Father is a good Father wanting to give good gifts to His children. We flood our own intellectual and spiritual space with His promises and power. Let us pray and ask the Lord for what we need.

Prayer: Lord, discipline me in my prayer life that my thoughts might hinge on your promises. Amen!

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