Ask: Day 1

Devotion by: Antonia Siebert

1 John 5:14-15

And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.

The lesson in these short verses is a difficult one to absorb. The first part is easy: if we ask properly, God hears us. So far, so good. We ask, therefore we know He hears. But the second part is the hard part: if we know that God hears us, then we know that “we have obtained the requests.”

What? Just like that? We know He hears, so we know we obtain our requests? I think not, my friend! How many times have you asked, implored, importuned, begged our God to grant a request – only to feel that you did NOT get what you asked for? That your request was ignored? That your God was far away and not listening? I know I’ve felt that way many times.

The key, however, is in the first part of the lesson. We must ask “according to His will.” That is, we must ask properly, with the appropriate frame of mind.

For me, of course, my fervent prayer to God was to have a child. I prayed long and I prayed hard and month after month after month (indeed, year after year) I didn’t get pregnant. I felt most decidedly incomplete and un-womanly, as I was apparently unable to do what millions of other women could do. I despaired and I was depressed and I was frustrated and I was angry at God.

But as time went on, something changed. As I thought and prayed about the matter, I came to realize that what was most important about having a child was the ‘having’ - that is, the keeping, the raising, the nurturing. The ten months a child would spend inside me was insignificant compared to the years and years outside me. When my focus moved from praying for myself and for my needs to praying for a child and its needs, then God answered my prayers.

And, as is so often the case, not in exactly the way I asked. God sent a beautiful, wonderful child for my husband and me to adopt – our son Sam. He is truly the answer to my prayers and God knew what was best for me.

PRAYER: Dear God, I pray that I may know how to pray. Grant me clarity of mind and keep me attuned to your teachings, so that I may ask according to your will. Amen