Day 15: And
Jesus continues His example of how to pray with the word ‘and’ to start off the next sentence. This is immediately following His asking for God’s provision of daily bread. He has no problem in asking for more right after He has requested something the sentence before. It is interesting to me that many in the Church, who would say they are Christians, and if Christians, then children of God, have trouble asking their Heavenly Father for the things they need, let alone the things they want.
There seems to be a common theme of thinking that one is too unworthy to receive from God, to come to the Communion table, to experience the presence of the Lord, or to simply ask for what we are called to ask. Many would assert that Christ has made those who receive His love and grace worthy of asking, of coming to the table, or of being with God. However, I would assert that just as the writers of Scripture are careful to point out: there is only One found worthy, and that is the Lamb that was slain, the Lord Almighty (Rev. 5:12). Actually what we see about those outside of God is that they have become useless/unworthy (Rom. 3:12) by turning away. It is the cross of Christ Jesus that reveals that we are not worthless, but rather that we are full of worth. If we truly believe God came in flesh and died in our place, we are declaring, therefore, that the Lord has given the ultimate price, Himself, to pay for us: meaning we are worth the ultimate price!
With this stated, we can be worth a lot, yet still unworthy to receive it. BUT this is where grace comes in. If we were worthy to receive it, then we wouldn’t need grace. This is the goodness of our God, who gives us grace that covers and empowers us to receive all that He has for us.
All of this to say, Jesus is exampling the way in which we should recognize that we can ask for more, because our God is a God who delights in giving to His servants (Ps. 35:27). We may not be worthy of asking, but through the grace and merciful love of our Lord, we can come to ask again. We should not be afraid of saying ‘and’ in our prayers, because God is never out of resources and finds pleasure in giving to those who ask. Jesus empowers us to know that even if we are unworthy of it, we can and should ask because His grace is an abundant overflow, and ultimately, He declares that we are worth it. So ask again, beloved, our Lord is able to give again and again. Amen.
Action: Again, some of us may find it hard to ask based upon what we believe about ourselves or about God. I would encourage you throughout the day to simply ask God how much He loves to give to you. I would challenge you to align yourself with the way He sees you and loves you, because He continues to speak that, “You are worth it!” When you find yourself slipping into another place of timidity to ask or receive from the Giving God, pray, Gracious Father, align me with Your boldness to ask again.
