Then the king said to me, “What are you requesting?” So I prayed to the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 2:4)
“Thy will be done.” That is what Jesus taught us to pray in His famous sermon on the mount. When we as saints come before God with our laundry list of needs and wants do we take the time to consider and ask God what He wants for us and do we seek it? Not that it’s bad to ask for good things: when we’re sick we want healing, when we’re lonely we need a friend, when we struggle with sin we cry for His deliverance. God as our heavenly Daddy wants us to come to Him with our requests, and He is a God who loves to give good gifts to His kids (Luke 11:11-13). But the apostle John reminds us, “This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (1 John 5:14). That means knowing that God is sovereignly good, acknowledging His lordship over your life as a loving and altogether trustworthy Father, and understanding that what He wants for you is ultimately the best thing for you, when you ask Him for what you need, He hears you!
As we grow in our relationship with the Lord (this is our sanctification) our prayers begin to change. They become less concerned about the short-term, temporal and fleeting things, and more about desiring what He wants for us, whatever that may be. If He puts something on your heart to specifically pray for then pray for it. That may very well be the very thing God wants to give you. This is what was in Nehemiah’s heart when the king asked what he wanted. He sought God’s will and favor before replying to the king. And God was pleased to answer his prayer. And may He also be pleased to answer yours today!