On asking and receiving...or not. (Nice try, Eli!)

During Dan's visit with his family, our four-year-old grandson Eli found many occasions to make us laugh...sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. He often has a big grin on his face (like in this picture) and his joy can be contagious.
Riding around in the chartered vans could be tedious, but he (and all the kids) handled it well, and he didn't always let it hamper his humor.

One afternoon we headed for the "mini Otavalo", a little market with stalls offering the same native artisans' handiwork as the big one a couple of hours to the north. 

Dan needed to get some more cash, so we stopped near an ATM on the way.  Shortly after Dan got out of the car, Eli suddenly wailed, "I have to go to the ATM machine, too...I don't have any dollars!" When Dan got back, he told Eli, "I'll give you a dollar...I'll give you two dollars." Eli studied the offer for a moment, smartly reversed the lessons on bargaining they had received, and countered, How about...ten dollars?"
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Remembering it with a smile, I've been thinking on how God sees us when we ask for things.  I bet He'd be delighted if we upped and expanded our requests!  After all, "{He}...is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."  (Ephesians 3:20)

"...for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him."  (Matthew 6:8)  I wonder if sometimes, although He already knows what our request is, He waits to see how we're going to ask Him for it.  With confidence in His power...with trust in His love for us...or with apologies...only the minimum, so as not to bother Him...with a sigh and an "I guess it can't hurt to ask" attitude...(or with a touch of "innocent" impertinence -  like Eli, who knew he might be pushing it!)?

God knows when we ask for things without fully understanding the implications. When a couple of His disciples asked for special positions in the Kingdom, Jesus replied, "You don't know what you are asking." (Mark 10:38)  Like the disciples, we aren't always aware of what the granting of our request could cost us...so God graciously doesn't give it to us!

Another factor:  "You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (James 4:2,3)

So we should be eternally grateful to God for the wisdom He shows in granting...or not granting...our requests!  "This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him."  (I John 5:14,15)  But I don't always know if what I ask for is "according to his will"!  How about you?  Maybe we just need to present our requests, as honestly and sincerely as we can...then wait and see how He answers them.  In the very way He answers ("yes", "no", "later", etc.), we might  be able to discern whether or not what we asked for was, indeed, "according to his will."

But wait...look at what God assures us in Romans 8:26-27!  "We do not know what we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Being finite and human, we don't always know...but the Spirit of God does! What a blessed relief!  What an awesome "safety net"!
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The way You put everything into perspective...the way You use your omniscience to safeguard us...the way You care about what You give us...reflect your awesome love for us. Thank You!