James 4:2–3

If you could have anything in the world, what would you choose? A beautiful large home? A yacht? A luxurious holiday; perfect health; world peace? Verse two seem to suggest that we just need to ask God and we will get whatever we want. But verse three makes it clear that we need to ask with the right motive. This means that God loves us so much that he doesn’t necessarily give us what we say we want.

Imagine for a moment that we did get whatever our selfish desires demanded. We would be in control because everything would happen in exactly the way we wanted, and at precisely the time that we demanded it. That sounds like the perfect world. However, the Bible has a technical word to describe such a place –hell. It’s the place where God is not. Our selfish desires would have pushed him out. What James is telling us is that our gracious, loving Father has a better plan.

God delights in giving good gifts to his children. Jesus observed that it was unthinkable that a father would give his son a snake if he asked for a fish, or a scorpion if he asked for an egg. Neither of those things would ever happen. And he drew the powerful conclusion that if we, evil as we are, manage to get it right how much more can our perfect heavenly Father be relied upon to give his best gift, his Holy Spirit, to those who ask him (Luke 11:11–13).

We do need to ask, and keep asking, but must ensure that we are asking for the right things in the right way. We need to tune our thinking into God’s thinking so that all that we ask for will be a blessing.

Question

What are you asking God for today?

Prayer

Lord God our Father I worship you because you love me perfectly and delight to give me the best gifts. I open my hands to you today and look forward to receiving whatever you decide is best for me. Amen