A child will not hesitate to ask his or her parents for a pony, even when they live on an upper floor of an apartment building. Common sense never even enters into the equation.
God tells us that we are to become like children, that we are to be just that naïve (some would call it faithful) and that we are to take no forethought concerning the end logistics of those things that we direly need, or even desire out of right motives. Jesus said, in Matthew 18:3 “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
But too often, we consider ourselves to be ‘too mature’ for relying on the Life of Jesus within us. We have become too self-reliant to call so constantly – through prayer – for those tiny moments in our day though we might not hesitate for even a moment to cry out to God when faced with the great tragedies of lives. In behaving in this manner, we are effectively staving the life of Jesus within us – by neglecting our own daily spiritual nourishing. The life of the Son of God within us is not nurtured by our daily intake of food, but by the daily outpouring of prayer.
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Children are audaciously, and magnificently, bold in their prayers. They will ask God for anything, without ever contemplating whether or not it might be too impractical for actually being possible. So our quandary in being ‘Mature Christian Adults’ lays not so much in our lack of belief that Jesus is God’s Son, and our Savior, but rather in not daring to ask Him for anything – little things – on a daily basis; or, worse yet, not even bothering to.
And that is, in part, why Jesus said in John 16:24: “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
Interestingly enough, the apostles Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus, in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 simply said: “Pray without ceasing.” What they did ‘not’ say was ‘eat at fine restaurants without ceasing’ or ‘invest without ceasing’ or ‘build your career without ceasing’ or ‘make business contacts without ceasing…’
Children take little or no thought in these matters. They simply rely – even unconsciously – that their loving parents are taking care of all of the things that they need to sustain their lives – and even more than what is necessary when it is warranted – simply because they care for them.
Matthew 7:8-11 says: “8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Suggested reading which inspired today’s Blog: The Purpose of Prayer, Oswald Chambers