Just Ask: The Prayer God LOVES to Answer
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When I was buried deep in diapers and sleep-deprivation, I secretly believed that setting aside more than five minutes to linger with the Lord was impossible.
In–depth Bible study? Prolonged prayer times? Maybe at 3 A.M.—after I strip the bed sheets that my potty–trainee wet in the middle of the night and pace the halls with my squealing baby.
I hadn’t secured an uninterrupted night of sleep for more than a decade. How could I possibly arrange an uninterrupted date with God?
Then a friend challenged my cynical assumptions with her simple strategy.
“When I’m feeling empty, I just ask God to carve out time for us to be together,” my girlfriend shared as we plodded along the bike path behind double strollers one morning.
I bit my tongue before rudely responding, “Yeah and when I start feeling flabby I just ask Him for new stomach muscles.”
But the more we talked, the more I wondered if this mom of four knew something I didn’t.
“Think about it,” she said as she intercepted an airborne sippy cup and quickened her pace to keep up with her young biker in the lead, “It’s a prayer He loves to answer.”
That evening, I watched four-year-old Hannah climb on her Daddy’s lap, bat her baby blues, and ask, “Daddy, when can we have a date?”
Her Daddy’s green eyes glowed and he whispered an agreeable answer in my daughter’s ear.
Once again, I thought about my girlfriend’s advice.
My husband moves mountains of obligations to linger with his girls over pancakes at the local café. He leaves mounds of paperwork on his desk so he can make it home in time to share a late night dinner with the ones he loves. He surrenders his leisure time, his work time, his alone time, to give our children the hours they need with their Daddy.
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Why would my Heavenly Father, who is not bound by time, respond differently?
“Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:9-10).
Still doubtful, I decided to try my friend’s strategy.
Before I collapsed into bed that night, I told God how much I wanted a Daddy date.
“Lord, I REALLY want to spend some time with you. Could you make a way for us to be alone together?”
My ever–spinning world did not stop on its axis, but my Heavenly Father did answer my plea.
Three days after I’d “just asked,” my children slept past dawn, and I savored an unexpected hour with God.
I lingered in the Word, confessed my latest parenting flop and recorded a favorite Bible verse in my journal. When the baby’s cry ended my Daddy date, I felt as revitalized as a woman who had just enjoyed a whole night’s sleep.
God may not always answer my request immediately, but I am discovering that my friend’s recommendation rings true. If I am willing just to ask, God is faithful to respond.
The key to securing time with my the Lover of my soul lies in recognizing the moments He gives when I ask for more of Him. And then protecting that time from all the things that can keep me from showing up for my Daddy date.
Since the job of motherhood never ends, I am often tempted to take the time God clears and fill it with tangible tasks. If a friend offers to take my kids to the park for an hour, I am prone to vacuum my floors before I pick up my Bible. If I coordinate my children’s rest times, I am quick to read my email before I talk to God.
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In the words of Charles Hummel, I fall prey to “the tyranny of the urgent.”
As Hummel wisely reminds us, “We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is the important task rarely must be done today or even this week. Extra hours of prayer and Bible study can wait. But the urgent tasks call for instant action- endless demands pressure every hour and day.”
If we want to stop running on empty, we must choose to fight for the important. It’s time to acknowledge that folded laundry and clean dishes don’t rejuvenate our souls. Or restore our peace.
If we want to be women who overflow with joy, we need to let some things—even urgent things—take a back seat to Daddy time.
Empty laundry baskets may be enticing, but empty souls are not. We were made to be filled.
Though dirty socks seem to regenerate by themselves, we must choose to be renewed. What if in the midst of grocery–shopping, potty–training, and finger painting, we took time to drink deeply from our Father’s cup?
What if we refused to settle for the daily drain and chose, instead, to let the challenges of motherhood thrust us toward brilliant bounty?
Perhaps we would discover strength in unlikely places.
Better yet, like the weary woman at the well, we might never go thirsty again. “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:38).
The Overflow:
Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time… -James 4:8a, The Message
Sharing in community with Jennifer at Getting Down With Jesus
and with Ann for Walk with Him Wednesdays.
we were made to be filled…love that. beautifully and truthfully written alicia.i am encouraged. xo
Oh Alicia!
I have been so busy and bit stressed,and needing my Heavenly Father more than anything! It always comes down to a time issue..and I always tell myself, that there is always time for him, but then my day buzzes by..and my Heavenly Father has been put on hold once more!
Thank you for this beautiful devotional! I am going to finish reading your blog posts…SO GLAD YOUR BACK!! And then I am going to take some Father time, and ask him to help me set up a DATE! 🙂
“When I’m feeling empty, I just ask God to carve out time for us to be together.”
You know what? I’m gonna be praying that prayer. I’m gonna be saying those words right there.
Thank you. This was a gift tonight.
I have prayed that prayer and have been Suprised time and again by miraculous pockets of time to be with Him. And I still end up getting things done. You are right, focusing on the important rather than the urgent. Great post!
Just do it! is such a good philosophy here. Thank you for sharing your honest struggle with this~many can relate, and a helpful solution. God loves to give us time with him…we just have to recognize it.
Keep up the God work.