Ask and It Will be Given

What is the purpose of asking God for things? Doesn’t He already know what we want, and more importantly, what we need? C. S. Lewis asked this question as well: if petitionary prayer requires faith that the request will be granted (Matthew 7:7), how can petitionary prayer also account for submission to the will of God and a possible response of “no”?

If God has promised that for those who ask, it will be given, then it shows a lack of faith to place conditions on the request. To acknowledge that God might not fulfill the request either means God has gone back on His promise or that the one making the petition lacks true faith.

However, there are examples in the Bible of prayers that seem to hedge in their requests. Most notably, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39). He asks that this cup be taken from Him, but He conditions it, “if it be Your will.” The Father’s will come first, before any other request. He asks that the cup be taken, but the answer is no. Surely we cannot think that Jesus’ faith faltered so egregiously in the garden.

One must consider the purpose of petitionary prayer. It is not to alert God to one’s desires; God is all-knowing. It is not to alter God’s will; His will is higher than human knowing and desire. Christians are asked to pray with both the confidence that God will answer them and with proper submission to God’s will; it is reasonable to suggest that a God will only answer requests that are aligned with His will. In setting a condition of God’s will (and a possible denial) over the request, the person is acting rationally, submitting to the higher desire. Petitionary prayer is only intellectually coherent when faith means trusting God's will over a particular, personally-desired outcome.

Lewis argues that some petitionary prayer creates conflict between God's will, human requests, and expression of faith. A type of prayer which guarantees a human’s request will be fulfilled does not align with what is held about God’s will, divine order, or Christian belief in submitting to God. The only way petitionary prayer can be reconciled is by conditioning that “all the things” asked for must first align with God’s will in order to be guaranteed fulfillment. This is not a lack of faith but a submission that what I ask for might not be for the best. I should ever ask God for less than the best.

Prayer is not a means of getting exactly what I want. It is not a demonstration of how good my faith is. It is a not a request for God to perform for me. It is communication with God. I want to draw closer to Him and His will. I will honestly pour out my soul and my desires. I believe He delights in my childish babbling to Him, because I’m talking to Him. I’m reaching out in faith. But, through prayer, He may show me that what I want isn’t right. To pray, even in petitionary prayer, is to humble myself before the One who can do all things—who creates form out of nothingness. Miracles are possible. God can do them. Whether He will or not is up to Him, not me. He already knows how this will go. All I can do is ask.