Tonight, I was thinking about ways to express the things I wanted to say in this blog, and my 8 year old grandson interrupted me. I looked up, and he had Mickey Mouse ears on, and he said, "Can you take me to Disney World, again? That was fun! And I can help with the money." Just a few seconds before, I had not the slightest notion of going to Disney World. Now, I was already planning the trip in my mind. Whether it is next year, or five years from now, it is a done deal, as long as I have the power to make it happen. Of course, by then he may forget that he asked. O.K., no. I don't think he will forget that. I think he may believe I have forgotten about it. But, he has this piggy bank, that is actually a dragon, or maybe a dinosaur bank. And he has been searching the house for change. He asked me, "Does it cost $2,000?" He repeated his offer to help. This time, with the emphasis on "help." I know what he is thinking. He is thinking that someone is going to tell him that it costs too much money. So he is going to find enough change to take a significant chunk out of that $2,000. But, he is a realist. He knows he won't be able to get the whole 2k from quarters he finds on the countertop. Do you know what joy it gives me just to have him jump up on my lap and put his arms around me? During those moments, I would do anything for him, if I could.
You might already know that this blog is about Jesus' promise to do what we ask in His name. I believe that promise is motivated by the love of God for each of us. There is a reason that God is called our Heavenly Father. He gives us relationships, like the one between my grandson and me, so that we might be able to fathom the kind of love He has for us. I believe God is moved by our hurts and our concerns. He does not need to be roused from complacency by great acts of self-denial. He is not disinclined to help us, until we bend His will by our fervent words of persuasion, or just plain perseverance. He does not forget, or need to have His mind changed. He already knows what we need before we ask Him. His heart is full of compassion for us.
You might wonder why we need to pray, if all that is true. There are a lot of reasons we could talk about, but the short answer is that He wants us to believe. And what better way for our belief, our faith, to increase than by showing us He is willing and able to answer our prayers. In fact, the only "good" thing you can do is to believe. John 1:12 says, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name." My grandson did not earn his way into my family; he was born into it. In the same way, we are born into God's family by belief in Jesus as our Savior.
Ashton (that is my grandson's name) believes he needs to collect quarters to get this trip started. I don't think we are going to need the quarters (we might need some of his mom's quarters!). But, sometimes you do need to take some action to receive the answer to your prayer. For example, if you are asking God to help you with your finances, some action on your part may be required. You may need to cut costs or take on more work. But that doesn't have to diminish the supernatural aspect of the answer. Even when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, somebody had to move the stone out of the way. So the action taken is the result of belief. Sometimes we need to start heading in the direction of our belief for God to give us an answer. And we don't know how far down the road the answer lies. But no matter how far, we know that He hears us.