Stop Begging God in Prayer
The difference between "asking" and "begging" God in prayer and how it can transform your prayer life.
I remember distinctly the moment when I realized I had been begging and pleading with God in prayer and why it felt so wrong.
I was in a worship service praying a prayer I had prayed what felt like thousands of times. You know the kind - those prayers that make you move from your every day life to a place of complete and utter desperation in your spirit.
It was something like please God, just this one thing, just this one time, I’m begging you!
There was an abrupt moment when the Holy Spirit decided to grab ahold of me and respond with conviction that I’ll never forget.
I had been begging God to move. I was pleading with Him as if the right combination of words would suddenly magically move all of heaven. Of course, I knew deep down that’s not how God works and that’s not how prayer works. I went to Bible college. I credited myself with having pretty knowledgable theology. I knew God wasn’t a genie in a bottle or a vending machine or any other popular prayer analogy. He’s GOD.
But in those moments in prayer, my words and my own spirit were not reflecting that theology. Instead, in my heartfelt conversation with God that I anticipated to be one-sided (just me doing the begging, God not responding…) I dropped to my knees like a little kid asking for something they knew wasn’t a possibility by repeating, “please, please, please.”
Maybe the Holy Spirit had finally had enough because He gently convicted me of what was off about this prayer. It wasn’t what I was asking for, it wasn’t that I was repeatedly asking for it (that’s encouraged in Luke 11:10, “For everyone who keeps on asking receives”), it was the posture of my own heart as I asked.
I suddenly realized I was begging God to move because I didn’t think He wanted to. I prayed as if what I was praying for was a great suggestion, a hope, a wish, but not something that God would actually bend His ear toward and hear.
The Holy Spirit reminded me in that moment that I was a daughter of the King. Not only does this Father long to hear my requests, but He longs to give good gifts.
“If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him (Matthew 7:11 AMP).
The Holy Spirit wanted me to see what it felt like to pray as a daughter to a God who I believe is God, who I know and am certain hears, and who I have faith can do anything not because of a combination of words or prayers but because of who He is.
Suddenly, my prayer shifted as if it stood up straight, rolled it’s shoulders back, made eye contact with the God of the universe and gained the confidence it needed to comfortably walk into the room like royalty. In His kindness, God answered a prayer I had been praying for years that day.
Now, when I notice that my prayers have drifted back to a pattern of begging and pleading with God, I stop. I pause. I remember who God is. I remember who He said I am. Then I pray and ask again but with confidence and trust in the relationship like a daughter who is unafraid to lift up her head and claim the authority Jesus left her with (Luke 10:19).
Today my challenge for our prayer lives is to ask God to shift the posture we are praying from.
If you have a lifelong prayer, a decade long prayer, or a prayer that just came to mind while reading this that makes you feel desperate ask God to shift your posture. Then, take your prayer to the throne knowing your prayers are welcome and received by a generous God.
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