Why Do I Even Have To Ask...

I will never forget working some years ago for a construction company that was building a golf course in a nearby town. One of the Sales Reps and I didn't get along. Everything he said and did drove me crazy. I am certain that I must've frustrated him too. I don't know how it started but the minute that I saw him, I would cringe. Throughout the day, I was full of snarky comments and sighs whenever he came my direction. (It's not a better side of me, I know.)

One day I finally let him have it and I told him all of the reasons why I didn't like working with him. I don't remember now what was said or even why I had an issue in the first place. I do know that while it felt good to "get things off my chest", it felt cruel to have such an ugly opinion of someone and even worse to share it.

That evening I went home and prayed. I asked for forgiveness for my attitude and for God to not just change my heart but to make me see my co-worker the way that God saw him. It was nothing short of a life changing prayer for me.

I didn't end up staying at that job for more than a year. But I did apologize to the salesman and we became friends before I left the company. That prayer has become a staple in my mental "prayer book".

It seems silly sometimes to ask for forgiveness. Especially when we think we're right or justified. We might ask God to make people or situations change for our comfort but in that prayer; I was asking God to change me in order to fit the circumstance. And looking back, it felt like he did it, instantly.

I don't want to cheapen the power of prayer but every time that I think about that story, I think of the following scenario. How many times do we go to a grocery store looking for something in particular? We search the isles and end caps and all the little places that we think something might be. When we can't find it, we do one of two things. We either leave without it or we go ask someone where it is.

But what happens when we ask?

When we finally get the nerve to go ask for directions, we're more inclined to follow the instructions (or follow the one leading us back to the thing that we were looking for). While this picture might sound too simple, I've found prayer to be quite similar. All I have to do is ask. I either get an answer or I don't. If I don't, I keep looking and praying. If I do get an answer, I usually try to follow the conviction on my heart.

But asking turns my heart toward the solution.

Our stubbornness is sometimes amazing isn't it? Early on, I too, would say "I won't pray for that because God is busy and he has better things to do" or "He already knows what's on my heart". While it might sound on the surface to be so trusting and faithful, underneath it kind of takes the accountability off of us and pushes it back to God, huh?  "Let him fix it".

But let me share a verse with you- Matthew 7:7 says “Ask, and it will be given to you seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  There is a little action on our end in each solution. 

Anyway, when I was looking for the image to go with this post I found the one below. I just love it. Especially because it's pertains to trees. It's a wonderful reminder to be rooted in prayer but let me also encourage you with it. We might want a Giant shady Oak on top but sometimes God needs to change or grow the roots a little underneath in order to sustain the tree. While I know that I will always be a work in progress, I am thankful to not be the woman that I used to be. It is all because of his hand in my life.

If you are in a situation that you've been resisting prayer over, please take a moment to fix that now. If you have been asking in prayer but aren't seeing the solution that you were hoping for, consider what you've been asking. Does God need to change something in you instead?

I'll be "rooting" and praying with ya! ;)