I think my son's favorite activity is eating. You'd never tell by all 19 lbs of him, but if he sees someone with food, it's only moments before he'll be standing boldly at their feet, giving the biggest smile he can muster, and with all his charm, attempt to mind trick them into sharing. When charm fails, he transitions to grunting, stomping, grasping and perpetual whining and wailing until he is fed. His hunger is insistent, and he will be as vocal as necessary until it is satisfied.
Too often, I'm in prayer circles with people who either a) refuse to pray for themselves, claiming that they are blessed with what they have and that God has more pressing concerns, or b) go to God with something like this, "And God, if you remember my job situation, please help me be happier there. I know that I'm lucky to even have a job, and just because it doesn't pay the bills, doesn't mean I can't be grateful. Help me to be grateful. Amen." These anemic prayers butt up against the image of my son asking me for what he needs.
The author of Hebrews says, "Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need." (Heb 4:6) What makes him think we can or should approach the throne with confidence, translated in some bibles as "boldness?" Jesus does. In Matthew 6, Jesus illustrates that pagans of the day went on and on, because their gods liked the flowery language, but says that our Father in heaven knows what we need before we even ask, and led us in the prayer model we call "Our Father," where he encourages us to ask for our daily bread. He goes on in Matthew 7 saying, "Ask, and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you." He then asks the crowd if any man whose son asked for bread would give him a stone, or if asked for a fish, would give him a snake? He said that much in the way we want to give good things to our children, God desires to give good gifts to his. (Matthew 7:7-11)
He is OUR FATHER. What parent would be happy if their child came to them saying, "Umm, Mom/Dad, it's been a few hours since I ate, and I'm starting to feel a little rumbly, but I know that you're busy, so whenever you feel like feeding me, that is, if you even want to feed me, that would be awesome. But if you're asking me to fast by not feeding me, I totally get it, and I'll stay happily hungry until you decide I should eat"? None of us! So why do we think that makes God happy? Much as I want my son to come to me plainly and with confidence and not have to guess what he wants, our Father wants us to come to Him plainly, and believe that our needs are important to him. For if we would meet the needs of our children instead of playing a cruel prank on them, how much more does God want to meet our needs when we ask Him?
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