It’s Good to Be in Need
If you’re in need, you’re in good company. Whether it’s a job, a house, a husband or wife, healing, a child…you’re never as isolated as the enemy tries to convince you that you are. Perhaps you feel “silly” for desiring some of the good things you do, or even believe that your desires are invalid compared to others. I’m going to get really cliche for a second and say, “I can assure you, friend, that if it’s on your heart, it’s also on God’s.”
Here’s what I want you to consider: why do we often feel that we must beg the Lord for His goodness to overflow in our lives? I think somewhere deep in our flesh, we don’t actually believe that He wants to bless us. Or, we don’t want to get real and confess how desperately we want to receive good gifts from our Heavenly Father. We think if we just rehearse “Jesus is enough” over and over again, eventually those desires will all fade away and we will finally “need” no longer. We also think that we shouldn’t talk about wanting the Lord’s blessing in the name of supposed “humility.”
But what if some of those things on your heart are actually specifically placed there by God so that He can perform a miracle in your life? Or, so that He can be glorified through your story?
I’d like to quickly draw your attention to Matthew 7, and I’m going to jump around to a few different verses. Firstly in Matthew 7:9, Jesus instructs, “You parents – if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?” In other words, when you pray, the Lord never ignores your requests. His answers are always, only a reflection of what is absolutely best for you. He is not a God who leads His children to settle. Then, in verse 11, Jesus concludes this sermon on effective prayer with this statement: “So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him.” In other words, “you cannot outgive God!” (as my mother would say). Give Him your life, and you will never be able to stop the outpour of His generosity into and through your life.
Going off that, I also discovered something prominent in Matthew 6 that I’d never noticed before. In verse 8 of this chapter, Jesus assures His disciples of this: “...for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him!” He then goes on to teach them the famous Lord’s prayer. In verse 32, Jesus basically repeats Himself by stating “...but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.” This is followed by Jesus encouraging the disciples to “seek first the Kingdom” in the next verse.
This is how I interpret these two sections in simple terms:
“Since God knows your needs, pray.”
“Since God already knows your needs, seek Him.”
You can’t hide your heart from the Lord. If Jesus didn’t make it clear during the Sermon on the Mount, He already knows. He knows the answer you're seeking. He knows about that “thing” you’ve tried to deny wanting. And guess what? He doesn’t condemn you for “wanting” things! Instead, He invites you to 1) pray to Him and 2) seek Him. In conclusion, if you have to confide in the Lord to get your needs fulfilled, you’re in the perfect place to experience His blessing.
Prayer: Dear Lord, let us condemn ourselves no longer for desiring Your gifts and the fulfillment of Your Word in our lives. Let us experience Your presence personally through the outpouring of Your blessing. We thank you in advance, Lord, for we are confident that we will “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of living” (Psalm 27:13). We love you, Lord, and we love to bless you for all of who You are, all that You’ve done, and all that You’ll continue to do for us. Amen.
