I don’t have a clever introduction for this post, so let me just give you the conclusion right up front―God has more desire to give than most of us have desire to ask.
Elisha told King Jehoash that God was ready to give him complete victory over Israel’s enemy, but Jehoash had a hard time grasping this (see 2 Kings 13:14-19). He was hesitant to ask God for too much, so he only asked for a little. This made Elisha mad!
I think the reasons why Jehoash was timid in his asking of God are some of the same reasons we wrestle with today.
(1) Elisha was dying, so maybe he thought God’s Spirit would depart with him.
Maybe you’ve had a spiritual giant in your life, and when they died you thought, “Who is going to be able to pray for me now?” God doesn’t have favorites. He desires that all of us come to Him.
(2) Jehoash was sinful and didn’t think God would want to help him.
You can’t increase your value in God’s sight because you live perfectly. God loves you perfectly just as you are. Don’t get me wrong: the Holy Spirit will speak to you if you need to repent, but God doesn’t only listen to “perfect” people.
(3) Jehoash thought God had a limited supply, or he thought he had a quota in how many requests he could make of God.
The whole genie-in-the-lamp concept has crept into the mindset of too many Christians. We think our genie-God will grant us a limited number of wishes, or we think He will try to find a loophole to get out of a difficult request. God desires that we keep on asking Him, keep on seeking Him, and keep on knocking on His door (see Matthew 7:7-11).
God is glorified when we ask Him to do what only He can do.
God is pleased when we keep asking of Him largely.
Again. And again. And again. AND AGAIN!
I’ll say it again―
God has more desire to give than most of us have desire to ask
If you would like to read some other thoughts on prayer from our series The Prayers Of Elisha, please click here and check out all the links in the comments.
Craig T. Owens 