A.S.K. Day Twenty Eight.

Mark 10:35 “Teacher they said we want you to do whatever we ask”.

At first you may think, ‘what a cheek’, but at least they were bold in their approach to prayer. I guess even when the motives are somewhat selfish, Jesus is pleased with this kind of prayer; after all, He didn’t rebuke them over the prayer, He just told them He couldn’t give them what they asked for as it was not His to give. Now it’s clear this was a request denied by the Lord and at times we just have to accept that He say’s no! Now, in glory they may get their request, we don’t know. But we need to grasp this, that God answers every prayer, it’s just that sometimes He say’s yes, no or not yet. But that is up to Him.

When Jesus say’s no or not yet, it’s not good to get moody or pout! It is right to simply thank God for all He has done for us, after all, some things we ask for are not good for us, or they may be inappropriate, or unacceptable, unlawful, or simply inapplicable. There are things, which we may think, are good for us, but God withholds them because He knows they would devastate us. And there are things that we think are not good for us but God sends them because He knows they are! Simply put, we need to simply trust and obey! I like the poem by Helen Steiner Rice called ‘God knows best’. Here is the first line from it.

“God knows what is best for us so why should we complain,

We always want the sunshine when the soul’s deep need is pain”

Loving Father, help us to understand and accept that you know best, help us simply trust and obey, in Jesus’ name amen.