We pray and pray and pray, but God doesn’t seem to answer. We wonder why this is so? After all Jesus told us, “Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.” And yet, our prayers go unanswered. And we wonder why. I think James, the brother of the Lord, had the answer. Our prayers go unanswered because we are asking for the wrong things.

There’s a 1977 film called One on One starring Robby Benson. Its about a young man on scholarship to play basketball, but halfway through his freshman season, the coach doesn’t want him anymore. However, the coach wants the scholarship back, and he can only get it if the player quits. So, the coach starts abusing the player. After a while the young man faces the coach and sarcastically says to him, “You’re a great builder of young men’s character.” To which the coach replies, “You little hypocrite. Every time I visited you, you demanded I take you out for steak dinners. You wanted a car; I got you a car. You wanted extra money on the side, and I got that for you too. But you never asked me to build your character.”

Let’s be honest, most of our prayers are for health, wealth, and a pleasant life. Jesus only said that God would give us bread and fish, but we ask for cake and lobster. Jesus said, “Seek and you will find.” But we must seek him. If we ask for understanding and wisdom, he will give it to us in abundance.

I’ve lost count of how many times I come across a passage in the Bible I don’t understand and pray to God to help me understand. Every time something happens, and understanding comes to me. Either I hear a sermon, find the perfect commentary, discover the right web site, or after carefully rereading the passage for the tenth time, the light will come on and I understand. Sometimes understanding is harder to accept than ignorance, but understanding is there.

It is alright to pray for God’s help in filling our physical needs (needs not wants), but it is better to pray for spiritual needs. Such as wisdom, understanding, truth, faith, and strength of character. If we seek out these things, he will open the door for us to find them.

#Prayer, #Knock