Do you ever feel like you are asking God for the same things again and again? Does anyone else have that running list of requests that you pray through EVERY SINGLE DAY? No, just me? Cool. Well, I do. I have a mental list of things that I pray through every day: I will pray for my future husband (and for him to HURRY UP!), pray for my family, pray for my brother who is a recovering alcoholic, pray for finances and provisions to come through, pray for more connectedness with Him, and the list goes on and on. Every single day, I start at the top of my mental list and I make my way through the same old requests. If a certain one of those requests is at the forefront of my mind, I may pray about it multiple times throughout my day.
So, here I am, doing my daily thing, talking to the Lord about the same old requests I had probably talked to Him about 25 times already that day. I remember saying to Him, “Do you ever get tired of me asking You for the same things ALL of the time?” Almost immediately, He responded saying, “Ask Me again.” Now, y’all, I’m going to be really transparent and say that I can be a little bit of a sarcastic, smart aleck sometimes; and unfortunately, this instance was no exception. I spouted back at the Lord and said, “Um…were you busy on the other line? Or were you not listening to the question I just asked you?” He so kindly answered, “No, I meant ask Me again for the finances, for the provisions, for your brother to walk in complete freedom, for a closeness to Me unlike anything you’ve known before. Ask Me again.” Gracious. He is so kind and so patient with me!
I grew up thinking that if I continued to ask Him for things, it would seem as if I was praying out of my worry, or that I didn’t believe He could do what I had already asked of Him once before. But in that moment, I felt like Jesus gave me the permission to keep on asking. In fact, He even encouraged me to do so – to come to Him over and over, even if that meant for the 26th time that day. He reassured me that my asking wasn’t out of worry; it wasn’t even out of disbelief. It was out of a desire to continue coming to the Well that never runs dry. To ask Him one more time. To believe He is capable of doing what I asked or BETTER. Matthew 7:7 NLT says, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.” John 16:24 NLT says, “Ask, using My Name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.” 1 John 5:14-15 NLT says, “And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He will give us what we ask for.” These Scriptures confirmed for me what I felt the Lord had spoken over me that day. Keep on asking.
So, if you are anything like me and you feel like you have already asked one too many times, I encourage you to ask Him again. Ask Him again for that need to be met and that child to come home. For wisdom, understanding, and a connectedness with Him. For Him to do all you ask or BETTER, because ultimately, the Lord knows what is best for you. When we continue to ask, we remain in relationship with the One who CAN and WILL provide. We remain dependent on the One who is sovereign over all things. We remain in connection with the Well that never runs dry. So, keep on asking, friends! Keep on believing that He does like it says in Romans 8:28 NLT, “work everything together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for Him.” Keep on believing that He loves when you ask Him again.