How to Ask God for Something You REALLY Want!
Have you ever wondered if it is OK to ask God for something you really want? I mean, God is holy, righteous, and in charge of the whole universe, so does He really care about the little things going on in our lives?
The answer to this common question is ABSOLUTELY!
God wants us to ask Him for things. God wants us to ask Him for help.
To tell Him what we want and need. To bring to Him all of our hopes and dreams.
While He already knows the deepest longings of our hearts, He still wants us to bring these things before Him in prayer.
But there are some things to consider before you pour your heart out to God and ask Him for what you really want.
How can you ask God for what you want?
So, if it is okay to ask God for things you want, then how do you do that? Is there an appropriate way to go about this?
While God loves it when you just come before Him in complete honesty, there are some things you should think about as you come before His throne with your requests.
Because you should cherish God’s presence . . . more than His presents.
Before you ask God for what you want, make sure you do these 10 things:
- 1) Check your motives.
- 2) Work on the relationship.
- 3) Seek God first.
- 4) Be specific.
- 5) Praise God and give thanks.
- 6) Pray for God’s Will to be done.
- 7) Believe God can.
- 8) Wait on God’s answer.
- 9) Prepare your heart to accept His answer. Whatever it is.
- 10) Remember who you are.
1) Check your motives.
The first step in asking God for something you really want is to remember that what is most important is your relationship with Him.
You need to check your motives and ask yourself some hard questions.
- Do you want God or just what He can do for you?
- Do you want God more than you want what you want?
It can be easy to fall into the trap of just wanting to know how to ask God a question and get an answer.
Because as humans, we think we know what is best for us. So, we want what we want. And we want it now.
“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
-James 4:2-5 NIV
But God is not some fairy godmother. Or a genie in a bottle just waiting to serve you and give you your every desire.
He is your loving Father, who wants to give you good things. But He also has your best interests in mind.
It is okay to want things.
But it is not okay to want things more than you want the One who created all the things.
If you find you’re desiring an answer to prayer, more than the One you are praying to . . . then you need to confess this to God. Ask for His forgiveness.
And take time to:
2) Work on the relationship.
You should be living to find your joy in God and your relationship with Him. Not in the things of this world. (Matthew 6)
Because if you have God, then you have everything you need.
Your first priority should be working on your relationship with God and growing closer to Him.
You can do this by:
- Reading His Word. Studying it. Meditating on it. And memorizing it.
- Spending time in quiet reflection and prayer. So, you can listen to God.
- Turning on some worship music. And praising Him.
- Reading some Christian books. Or listening to some good, Bible-based teachings through sermons, podcasts, etc.
As you do these things, they help to bring your heart back to a better place by drawing you closer to God.
So, you can learn to:
3) Seek God first.
Focus on Christ . . . not your circumstances. Seek God first. And as you do that, He will provide for you.
Maybe not the way you want Him to.
Maybe not in the way you thought He would.
But He will provide in His perfect way. In His perfect timing.
And in a way that only He can.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
-Matthew 6:33 NIV
4) Be specific.
When you tell God what you need, be specific. He already knows what is going on in your heart, but He desires for you to bring it to Him in prayer.
So, don’t just say you want to grow in your relationship with Him. Ask Him to help you set aside 10 minutes every day to read His Word and pray.
Don’t just ask Him to help you with your finances. Tell Him that you need $500 to pay for repairing your car by Friday.
And then stand back and let Him amaze You by providing in ways that only He can.
God longs to have a relationship with you. And to have a deep, intimate relationship we must learn to be honest with Him about the deepest longings in our hearts.
Yes, He already knows them.
But there is something about saying it out loud to someone else.
It really does make a difference.
5) Praise God and give thanks.
Praise God while you wait. This keeps your heart in a good place.
It helps you remember how faithful He has been. And that He can be trusted to be faithful again.
Praising God for who He is and what He has done also helps us to be grateful.
Being grateful for what we do have helps us have a correct perspective as we ask God for what we want.
6) Pray for God’s Will to be done.
While you may want something specific from God . . . God’s will to be done in the situation is more important than what you want.
God knows you even more than you know yourself.
He sees every part of your story. Every day of your life.
He sees the beginning and the end. Simultaneously.
And He knows how your life interacts with all the people around you.
Because God has this greater perspective, He knows what is best.
And the truth is, He may have something even better in mind for you, than what you think you want.
7) Believe God can.
So to be completely honest, while I say that I believe God can do anything. There are often doubts in the back of my mind that He will.
What I have to keep in mind is that like any good parent, God wants to answer my prayers, but He also knows way more than I do.
And because He is my loving Father . . . then if He withholds something, it is for my good.
What I am learning is that trust is often an action first before it becomes a feeling.
We have to choose to believe that God can do what we ask Him to do. And then choose to trust in His goodness.
We have to choose to keep putting one foot in front of the other as we walk by faith.
And eventually, our feelings will catch up.
It just takes time.
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered.
-Mark 11:22 NIV
8) Wait on God’s answer.
You’ve prayed to God. And you’ve told Him exactly what you want. So, now what?
You wait.
I know, that’s not the answer you wanted to hear. It’s never the one I want to hear either.
But be patient.
God will answer in His perfect way. And His perfect timing.
You can ask God for something you really want . . . and then you can wait with hope.
Trusting that because God loves you, His answer to your prayers is always the best one.
Even if it’s not the answer you want to hear.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.”
-Isaiah 55:8 NIV
9) Prepare your heart to accept His answer. Whatever it is.
While God is always good, you won’t always think His answers are good.
Because sometimes He says, “No.”
However when He does, then He often gives you more of Himself so you can handle the disappointment.
He brings comfort, encouragement, and an unusual sense of peace. These things can help you accept His answer, even when you don’t like it.
Because God is enough.
If you have Him, then you have all you need.
Yes, this truth is a lot easier said or written . . . than lived out.
But this fact doesn’t make it any less true.
10) Remember who you are.
Sometimes when life isn’t going the way you think it should, it helps to remember who you are.
You are a dearly beloved child of the Almighty King of the Universe.
And because of this, you can let His peace fill your heart as you wait for His response.
Because no matter what happens you are held in the arms of the God who passionately loves you.
So, you will be okay.
How Should We Ask God for Things?
So, can we pray for something we really want?
The answer to this question is a resounding, “YES!”
We can bring every request to God. Because He already knows what is in our hearts. And like any loving Father, He wants us to bring our needs and wants to Him.
But we’ve also seen that it does matter how you pray to ask God for something.
How we pray matters because our hearts need constant reminders to turn to God. To keep our focus on Him so we don’t become consumed by what we think we need.
We can pray boldly. With complete and total confidence in the God who loves us.
Because He listens when we ask Him for something we really want.
But we have to keep in mind that like any good parent, He loves us too much to give us anything but what is best for us.
Even if He knows we won’t like it.
But in those moments, He also promises to be with us every step of the way, as we walk by faith.
Teaching us to trust Him. To lean on Him.
And to cherish His presence more than His presents.
If you found this encouraging, then please share so others can be encouraged!
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