MAY I ASK GOD THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER AGAIN?
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Mag ek oor en oor vir God dieselfde ding vra?
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone sent me an email in which the person asked me:
Can I ask God something which I’ve already asked before? Is it not a sin to ask God repeatedly for the same thing and to nag God because God does not answer us?
This is the answer I gave to this person, and hopefully it will be of help to someone else as well.
Of course you may ask God, on the contrary he wants you to ask Him.
It is a delight whenever my children ask for my help, advice or assistance of any kind, because it is a great pleasure to know that my children think so much of me that they know they can count on me. Jesus said that if we who are sinful act like this, then just think how God will respond.
MAT 7:7-11
7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 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.”
It cannot be stated any more clearly than this.
There is a section that you have just read which makes some people think, that God does not hear them, or that there might be a God who cannot hear.
MAT 7:7-8 7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
There are many things I asked God which He hasn’t answered me yet, and some of the things I've asked Him might never be answered, but I keep on asking because I know a few things:
I am allowed to nag God (and I say this with great respect).
I've will tell my Father that I know that I’m nagging now but please, here it comes again.
Read the following:
LUKE 18:1-8
1 “One day Jesus told His disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” He said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’ 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to His chosen people who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, He will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?”
Just to come back quickly to the part where Jesus said:
MAT 7:7-8: 7 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Not everything I ask God are things that I’m supposed to ask or are things that I should ask for now.
I cannot for example expect God to answer my prayers, if I ask Him to please let Piet and his wife divorce, because I am in love with Piet’s wife and I know that we will be better matched together then she and Piet.
If my crying son stormed into the house and asked if he could borrow my gun to shoot Johnny because Johnny had hit him, and he couldn’t hit him back because Johnny is much bigger and stronger than he is, I cannot give him my gun although I love him very much and feel very sorry for him because he was crying.
If my daughter asked me before dinner if she can get some ice cream, I'm going to say no. But after dinner I will give her some ice cream with loving pleasure, because I don’t want her to be full and then she will not eat her meal.
God answered my prayers but not always when and how I want to.
When my daughters were young, they both played tennis for their school’s first team. I would put them in the hot sun to practice playing tennis and many times they would complain. You see, I did not only want to help them to reach their maximum potential, but I also wanted to boast about my children. I think that God sometimes let us go through things, to use us, His wonderful children, as an good example to all living beings around us, yes, even the devil, and at the same time assisting us to reach our full potential as God’s children here on earth.
JOB 1:6-12
6 “One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan came with them. 7 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” 8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed My servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” 9 Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 11 But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse You to your face!” 12 “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.”
With great respect I want to say that the manner in which God spoke about Job can only be construed as bragging about Job.
You see child of God, every time I talk to God discussing matters with Him or asking Him for something, I wait with wondrous eager what it is that He will do, because I have this wonderful knowledge, that gives me complete peace when I conclude my prayer:
ROM 8:28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.”
So child of God go to our Lord with great confidence.
PHI 4:6-7
6 “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Remember child of God –
God always answers, it is just that God doesn’t always answer how and when we want to.
Greetings,
Sakkie