Prayer and Begging

Q: 1)What is the difference between prayer and begging? 2)Should we pray for petty things like finding lost car keys or scoring a touchdown at a football game?

A: Thank you for your interesting questions. On the surface, it would appear that there is not much difference between prayer and begging. Ultimately, however, it comes down to what a person is desiring to get from God and the motivation behind requesting it. What is it we are asking for when we pray or beg? Is what we are asking for geared toward deepening our relationship with the Lord or is it simply to satisfy the desires of our flesh? Praying is simply intelligent conversation with the Lord your God. Personally, I look at prayer as the way in which to seek an understanding of those things God has freely given to us as a result of our saving faith in Jesus Christ. On the other hand, begging implies that a person is desperately asking for something they do not have, feel they need, but do not have the power to acquire. I think God understands and is okay with our asking for "petty thing like finding lost car keys or scoring a touchdown at a football game." The question I would ask you is, "Do either of those things help you to know God?" All of us have asked the Lord, whether through praying or begging, to help us find lost items or for our favorite teams to score a touchdown. And each of us have experienced receiving those things we have asked for to varying degrees. But, on the other hand, there are times we cannot find lost items and our favorite team does not score. Does this mean God does not care about us or that we are not in His good graces because we did not receive what we desired?

In James 4:3, he writes, "And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure." Are not most of our requests to God ultimately motivated by a desire to receive something that will give us pleasure? Let me use your football example. Last season my favorite team, the Denver Broncos, were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in a playoff game. The game went into overtime. Naturally, my desire was for the Broncos to win the game. I am sure there were thousands of Broncos fans, like myself, who were uttering prayers asking God to intervene and let our team win. No doubt, there were thousands of Steelers fans desiring the same intervention by God on behalf of their team. Thankfully, the Broncos won the game on a long touchdown pass. Honestly, I do not even remember if I thanked God for my team winning. Furthermore, while what I desired came to pass, I cannot be certain that is was God divinely intervening on my behalf. Regardless, my motive for asking was purely selfish. I wanted my team to win. I wanted this so I could boast about them winning to others. I wanted them to win so I could pridefully look down on Steelers fans. It was all about what I wanted for myself, not necessarily about what God desired for me.

Personally, when it comes to asking God for "petty things," there is a risk He takes if He grants our desires. By doing so, He could be reinforcing false beliefs about Himself or encourage behavior He does not endorse. If we get what we ask for, we will only be encouraged to ask again. The bottom line is that we are looking to God as if He is some sort of Genie in a bottle who is only there to give us what we want. Yet, how often do we seek His desire for us? There are two passages that helped me tremendously in this area; Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3. Ephesians 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ ..." 2 Peter 1:3 reads, "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue ..." Notice how they read that we have every spiritual blessing in Christ and have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness through the "knowledge of Him." My point is that if we already have everything God wanted to give us, shouldn't we pray for an understanding of what it is He has given us? By recognizing what it is we should be focusing on, the idea of begging is completely eliminated from the equation. There is no need to beg for what you already have received. The Apostle Paul underscored this idea when he wrote, "I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance." Paul knew what it is he had been given by God through his faith in Jesus Christ and that knowledge led to him being content in "any circumstance."

What Paul realized, and what every Christian should know, is that what God had given Paul was Himself. God created each and every person in the world with deep heartfelt desires for unconditional love and total acceptance. The only way to have these needs met is to have God indwelling our spirits. This can only be accomplished through faith in Jesus Christ. Furthermore, when we have received Jesus Christ, He wants us to know all He has given to us. What we have been given is unconditional love, total acceptance, forgiveness of sins, complete holiness, sanctification, justification, citizenship in Heaven, made a part of the Body of Christ, freedom from God's wrath, the ability to approach God in confidence, eternal life and much more. It is these things that we have, but may not fully understand, that God wants us to come to Him in prayer to learn about. We don't have to beg for them because we already have them. And as we learn all that we have in Christ, the "petty things" of life lose their significance and our desire to have them diminishes. Our focus becomes one of engaging the world with what we can give to it instead of what we hope to get from the world. And in the midst of our circumstances we can be content because we are receiving the perfect love of our God which is meeting the deepest desires of our heart. If you do not know the Lord in this way simply pray to Him about it and He will gladly reveal to you what you already have in Him. Begging will become obsolete as you realize that what you thought you needed, but could not acquire, does not compare to what God has freely given to you in Himself. Grace and Peace.