When I was a young boy my parents gave me a warning, “Be careful what you ask for.” It was grammatically incorrect, but it was very good advice. Many of the things I thought I wanted were attached to responsibilities or consequences that I wasn’t prepared to handle. I learned to seriously consider my requests.
When we accept Jesus Christ as our savior, we have the marvelous privilege of approaching God directly in our prayers. It is normal for us to approach God in awesome wonder of His power and glory and then thank Him for all He has already done for us. But when we begin to ask Him to provide our needs and desires, we must be very serious about it. We must be willing to accept the responsibilities and consequences of our request. When the mother of James and John asked for them to be seated on either side of Jesus in His kingdom, He told her that she didn’t know what she was asking. Was she willing for them to be, as Jesus was, the least of servants on earth? Was she willing to see them endure the torture and excruciating death Jesus was facing? She wanted her sons to have the glory without doing what was required of them to attain it. She didn’t seriously consider her request and neither did her sons who were with her. (See Matthew 20:20-23)
I think many Christians recite the Lord’s Prayer without really taking it seriously. Do we really want Him to lead us away from our favorite temptation? Will we gladly follow Him as He leads us around it? Do we really want Him to deliver us from that evil environment toward which we are constantly drawn? Are we really willing to forgive those who have wronged us even as God has forgiven us? If we are not serious about our requests, God will not respond to them. He is not impressed by our words, but by the content of our hearts.
It has been said that the most dangerous prayer is that of Isaiah, “Here am I, Lord. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8) While it is true that you really have to be completely dedicated to God’s will to pray that prayer, I think the prayer of David (Psalms 139:23-24) is just as dangerous, “Search me, O God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” You really have to be serious to open yourself up to that kind of scrutiny and correction. But if we are serious when we pray, God will not only answer our prayer but bless us beyond our wildest expectations.
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