When we pray and ask God to grant us a favor, do we truly ask with a sincere heart and believing that what God wants for us is only what is good for us? Or, when we ask, do we feel that sense of entitlement that makes us believe that God needs to grant our prayer? And if He sees fit not to give us what we want, do we start doubting His love for us? In short, are we really asking or are we telling God to give us?

The answer lies in our behavior. If we brood and get upset with God when things don’t go our way, then we are not asking, but telling Him. If we are brazen enough to threaten Him if He does not grant us our wishes, then we are in rebellion against Him.

Perhaps we treat Him as one of us. Well, He isn’t. He’s God, the Master of the universe, the Almighty and the All-knowing. God is not a yes man. He cannot be ordered about. He is King and whether or not we like it or accept it, that is the undeniable truth.

The way we talk to God and insist on what we want can be excused because of our lack of understanding about who He is. We get confused because He come to us as a fragile and vulnerable child and grew up among us and was, in fact, crucified by us. Perhaps that is why we forget that He is God, the Creator of all that is.

When we pray for a favor, we expect it to be granted, but any request can also be turned down. And God does not always give us what we want. He gives us what we need, even if we don’t want it. John Baillie said it well when he wrote:

“One sometimes hears it said, ‘it is absurd to try to change the will of God. Who are we that we should tell God what to do? If we believe in God at all, we must believe that He is already ordering all things for the best,”

Well, let me say that Christian prayer is not telling God what to do; it is rather telling Him what we think we need. It is making our requests know to Him.

“In the last resort, Christian prayer has always left it to God’s own wisdom to decide what precisely He is to do about our need. With all His heart the Christian never ventures to dictate to the Most High; he always adds, “If it be thy will.”