28-Day Prayer Journey: Ask

Today we are expressing our confidence that God sees and hears us when we pray.

MORNING MEDITATION

This is the day that you have been waiting for, right? The day you get to present your requests to God! So don’t be shy: talk to God about all of it. Often. As soon as a need, a concern, a decision, an emotion, or a hard circumstance arises, let it remind you to chat with Him. You are not bothering Him. He likes to hear from you.

This morning, what request are you champing at the bit to ask of God? No need to fake the funk and request what you ought to pray for. Think of something you really want to pray for. He knows your heart anyway, right?

This morning, pray for the desires of your heart.

Start today by being honest. What do you desire most from God for yourself?

• A home that you can own?
• Healing of a disease that’s impacting your health?
• A partner with whom to share your life?
• A job that will allow you to provide for your family?

Share your big heart’s desire on the blank page at the end of this day’s prayers. Doing so creates a great opportunity for a heart check in the future. When you return to this book during a new season of life, you will see whether the desire of your heart has remained steadfast or if it has changed.

Pick at least one thing — the thing your heart burns for — and go for it.

Pause. Be still. Lay it at Jesus’ feet and just ask.

Know that when you pray, God hears more than you say, answers more than you ask, and gives more than you imagine in His time and in His way.

AFTERNOON REFLECTION

This morning you let it all hang out by asking God for what you most want. God loves it when you trust Him with what’s in your heart. This afternoon, ask God for what you need.

Often there will be overlap between what you want and what you need. If you need a safe place to live, owning your own home might be a want but not a need. If you have a car that gets you to work, a new model SUV might be a want and not a need. But if you’re unemployed, securing a job that you love is both a want and a need. And if you’re battling cancer, healing is both a want and a need.

Psychologist Abraham Maslow, born at the beginning of the twentieth century, identified our basic human needs as air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing, and reproduction. The next tier of needs he identified were needs for personal security, employment, resources, health, and property. Next, he named relational needs: friendship, intimacy, family, and a sense of connection. There are a few higher-order needs, but these are the basics.

This afternoon, beloved, be bold in coming before the God who longs to meet your needs.

PRAYER PROMPT

God, You know that I need __________ .
Today I am trusting You to be my good Provider .

Jot down your needs and notice how God meets them.

EVENING INSPIRATION

If God answered all your prayers, would the world look different, or just your life? ~ Dave Willis, pastor

Ouch.
Convicting.
It’s natural to ask God for what we want and need. But God also welcomes us to pray for others! Author Philip Yancey offers:

When I pray for another person, I am praying for God to open my eyes so that I can see that person as God does, and then enter into the stream of love that God already directs toward that person.

Isn’t this such a comfort? Maybe you know exactly what a per- son needs from God. Great! But often we don’t know exactly how to pray for another. Romans 8:26 encourages us:

The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

And our joining the Spirit’s groans is what Yancey is describing.

Tears are prayers too. They travel to God when we can’t speak. See Psalm 56:8.

This evening, notice one person whom God has put on your heart to pray for. Who in your life most needs God’s touch, God’s word, God’s leading? Ask God to open your eyes to see that person as God does. And then, as you pray with the power of the Spirit operating in you, join the stream of love God is already pouring out upon that person.

And here’s another thought: Who or what do you not want to pray for? That’s convicting too.

If there is a person or situation that you should pray for but don’t really want to pray for, do that today.

Why, you ask?

Because it brings glory to God when you push past your feelings to have His heart for people, hard circumstances, and difficult challenges. When you pray for those who hurt or persecute you and show concern for circumstances that you’d rather not be a part of, you experience the heart of God. And He smiles.

Excerpted with permission from The 28-Day Prayer Journey by Chrystal Evans Hurst, copyright Chrystal Evans Hurst.

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Your Turn

What are you praying for for yourself? And for others? Come share with us! We want to hear from you and be exhorted by you! ~ Devotionals Daily