John 4:10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Reading this verse this morning I have a strong echo of James 4:2, “You do not have because you do not ask God.” Jesus famously said, “Ask, and it will be given to you.” (Matthew 7:7) There are many reasons people don’t ask, and Jesus is here pointing out that a major one is ignorance of God and what He can and will provide. We take prayer so lightly because we don’t really grasp that we are praying to the Creator of the universe, the One who spoke everything into being and who cares for us enough to send His Son to die for us. We have very little grasp of what He can and will give us, if we will only ask. What we do ask is very often distorted by wrong motives, as James pointed out. (James 4:3) When we pray such prayers, God as a good Father does not grant them, and we get the idea that prayer isn’t much use. However, God delights to give His children good things, as any father does, so we need to approach Him as obedient children. The more we learn of Him, the more we will pray, and the freer our prayers will become. God isn’t much interested in stiff, formal prayers, or rote prayers that have no heart behind them. Many people rattle off the Lord’s Prayer with no thought at all as to what it really means, and the results are no more than you would expect. An awareness of the character of the One to whom we pray makes all the difference.

I was greatly blessed to grow up in a home where prayer was as natural as breathing, and understood to be as important. I didn’t see my parents spending so much time in prayer, but I knew they did it, in daily devotions and otherwise. Growing into such a lifestyle of prayer has taken me all my life to this point, and I’m not through yet! I often forget that other believers, even, don’t have the same background in prayer that I do, and I presume too much. I need to make full use of the opportunities God gives me to teach others what I know of prayer, even as I keep learning myself. I am still amazed that infinite, omnipotent God is moved by our prayers, and I need to communicate that joyful wonder to as many as possible.

Father, thank You for prayer meeting last night. Thank You for guiding my prayers so that one of those present was strongly impacted and given more understanding of what it is to pray in faith. Thank You for the gift of faith. I ask You to continue to grow us into a praying body that grasps who You are and what it is to participate through prayer in what You are doing. Help us be aggressive in our prayers, tearing down the strongholds of the enemy in individuals and in society (2 Corinthians 10:4) so that multitudes may be set free to enter Your kingdom, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!