"Pray for what you want, but work for the things you need."
Hmm... I just don't know what to think about this statement. Is it saying that God refuses to provide the things we need if we ask for them? Should we really only ask for the things we simply want? It seems to be saying that we should only ask for those things that we want so if we do not receive them, we won't then be left disappointed or lacking - we will simply be left without luxury, comfort or indulgence.
But that is incredibly small-minded. The things I desire do not always have to do with excessive want. Occasionally they do... but I also desire to be loved, accepted, encouraged and cared for. Are these things I need? Debatably so - in order to perhaps thrive in my own skin - but to live and breath? No, not necessarily. But I desire them non-the-less. I would argue that most people do too.
And doesn't that go so totally against God's character and the providing Father that He is? Isn't it true that He desires for us to come to Him with ALL of ourselves... which of course includes both needs and wants? If we only offer him a portion of ourselves as a safety net for our own hearts, we will only eliminate the possibility of deeper relationship with Him... and the possibility for His strength and power to be known personally and deliberately.
The other thing that rubs me the wrong way is that this quote encourages self-sufficiency over dependency on Jesus. The truth is, we cannot do this thing called life on our own. If we try, it will only leave us more broken and wanting than before. Our lives were created to glorify God and reflect His glory through our lives. But, if we take the control from Him - and essentially depend on our own abilities to "succeed" (whatever that means) - then we will be clothing ourselves in the glory that God deserves. And we will be ruining any opportunity to experience the story He already wrote out for our lives.
He tells us "ask and it will be given to you. seek and you will find. knock and the door will be opened..."
Will we take that offer to heart? Or will we only ask a little, seek when it is dark and maybe do a little doorbell ditching instead of jumping into a relationship with God so utterly and completely that it includes every part of us... the good, the bad, the ugly... and of course the beautiful too?
No, this does not mean that everything we pray for will happen in our own timing - or at all.
What it does mean is that our relationships with our creator will be so gloriously open and real - encompassing all of our hurts, joys, love - that we will truly learn to rid ourselves of self sufficiency and depend on Him. And that is where growth, knowledge and discovery really happens... in the trenches of reality.
But we must pray about all things. And He will grow us, love us, and provide for us - each uniquely and completely - despite our needs and our wants.
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