A Simple Way to Practice Trusting God: Don’t Pray for Needs
I know. That title sounds counter-intuitive. But let me explain.
At the Bethel Music Heaven Come Conference in LA this past weekend, one of the pastors, Eric Johnson, told the story of how for 2 weeks he stopped asking God for things he needed. He did this because of what it says in Matthew 6.
“And when you pray, do not keep babbling like the pagans,
for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them, for YOUR FATHER KNOWS
WHAT YOU NEED before you ask Him.”
(Mt. 6:7-8, NIV, emphasis mine)
Of course, God wants us to ask for things we need…(Luke 11:9-13) with the right motives. (James 4:2-3). But Eric decided to trust that God knew what he needed. So for two weeks, he didn’t ask God for anything he needed. Instead, he chose to focus on the goodness of God. He said it was really hard to pray because 99% of his prayer life was focused on things he needed. He had to re-think his prayer life.
Then God Started Having Fun
For the following 18 months, Eric, who loves coffee, kept being given coffee for free. He went to a drive through coffee place and the person at the window said his coffee was free because the person in front of him had paid for it.
This happened twice. He even had friends who supplied bags of coffee for him at home. One friend told him to tell him when he ran out so he could give him more. When his coffee ran low, Eric felt strange asking his friend to bring him more, so he didn’t. But then his friend texted him and asked if he was running low. Eric said, yes. So his friend supplied him with more coffee. For 18 months, Eric was actually unable to buy a cup of coffee for himself. At one point, he got mad and said, “Guys! I can pay for my own coffee!”
There was also a time when he was sitting in the hallway of his church talking to a friend. They were on a bench between the coffee shop and a hospitality room where coffee was being served. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee smelled so strong that he couldn’t concentrate on what his friend was saying. He wanted a cup of coffee so badly. Then another friend walked up to them holding a cup of coffee from the hospitality room, saying, “I don’t know why I got this coffee. I don’t even like coffee! Would one of you like it?”
Even though Eric really wanted it, he did the pastoral thing and asked his friend if he wanted it. His friend said no. So Eric smiled and gladly accepted the cup.
We Are Royalty
Eric saw the connection between the two weeks of not asking God for things and God giving him the gift of coffee just because He knew Eric really loved coffee. God was giving Eric a gift because He’s a good Father and good father’s love giving gifts to their children. (Matthew 7:11)
Eric’s point was this: “Sometimes God skips the ‘needs’ list and gives you something from your ‘wants’ list. Why would God do that? Because He’s a King giving to another king or queen, which is us. That’s how kings and queens live in real life. They give gifts to each other just because.”
We are royalty. That’s how God sees us. Since God is the King of the World, and we are His sons and daughters, then we are royalty too!
My Prayer Challenge Starts with Abundant Blessings
So I started this prayer challenge on Friday after Eric’s talk. Right away I noticed that it was hard for me to pray. I kept thinking about things I needed God’s help with, and had to keep reminding myself not to ask for things I needed but to just trust that God already knew.
The next day, God presented me with abundant blessings. I was still at the Heaven Come Conference and went out to dinner alone to be with Jesus. I paid for my meal, tucked my wallet back into my purse, and walked back to the auditorium. I went upstairs to ask a prayer minister for…not prayer, but for surprises from God. Kirk, the prayer warrior who prayed for me took a moment of silence to ask God what was on His heart for me. Then he started rattling off 17 blessings that he was envisioning for me from The Father.
Kirk had no idea I’m a writer, but for the first blessing, he said, “God is writing another interesting story in your life. He is the author. You are His pen.” I was blown away! I immediately felt the Presence of God on me and in Kirk’s words and I started crying. (I often cry when I sense God speaking to me.) As Kirk spoke vision after vision for me, I kept crying and even laughing with utter joy at some of the things he said because they related to specific areas of my life. All 17 items he spoke over me seemed relevant. I didn’t stop crying and laughing until he finished talking 20 minutes later. I’d say that was a pretty good start to the “don’t pray for things you need” challenge!
Then Came a Test
I’ve noticed that when God moves a truth from my head to my heart, He will often test me to see if I really understand the truth He’s giving me. That’s Holy Spirit’s way of teaching and guiding me.
After dinner, I walked back into the auditorium for the next session. I met up with some friends and set my purse down on a chair while I was talking to them. After a few minutes, I went back to my purse to grab my phone to take a picture, but my iPhone was not in my purse. I had just used my phone to record the blessings from Kirk and I distinctly remember putting it back in my purse. I also noticed that my wallet was missing. Now that was really strange because I know for sure I tucked it back into my purse after I paid for my meal at the restaurant.
When I told my friend that I’d lost my iPhone and wallet, he said, “That’s okay. Just pray and ask God where they are. He’ll help you.”
“I know that but I can’t! I’m doing the prayer challenge!”
“Oh, that’s right. Ha ha! That’s really funny! God’s up to something.”
Part of me thought, I should be really worried. I’m away from home and those are probably the most valuable material possessions I own. I’m in a crowd of 7000 people! But another deeper part of my was calm and at peace. I didn’t feel any adrenaline rush or nerves in my belly whatsoever. I was very calm. All weekend long, I’d been focusing on how God is my Daddy, and how my Daddy is The King of the World who loves me to pieces. So what could I possibly fear?
The worship music was about to start, and I had a choice of fretting and retracing my steps and missing the worship, or staying for the worship set and trusting that God would find them for me.
The Battle of the Mind
I decided to stay in the auditorium and not miss one bit of the worship time. During the first two songs, it was a challenge to pay attention to the lyrics. My mind kept thinking of things I could do to look for my wallet. Ask the Security guards. Ask the MC to announce a lost wallet and iPhone. I was also thinking, Oh no! My identity is lost. My iPhone that just recorded all my beautiful blessings from God is lost! But I kept telling myself, Stop that! My identity is in Jesus Christ! And stop thinking of solutions! My Daddy is the King of the World! He loves me and will take care of this!
Then I thought, If I lost my iPhone and wallet, does that really matter? I mean really? Those are only material things. I would gladly give them up in exchange for this hour of time with my Daddy, The King of the World. After that realization, I was finally able to actually enter into beautiful praise and worship for the rest of the hour.
When the worship set was over, I quickly went back waited outside a bathroom stall to see if my two missing items were in there. But they were not. I then asked the lost and found if they’d found them, but they had not. So I left my name, home phone number, and descriptions of my lost items with the people at lost and found. The friend I was sitting with let me borrow her iPhone to text my husband at home to alert him that someone might call about my missing items. (My home phone number is on the back of my iPhone case.) He put my phone into “lost mode” and had the phone play an alert sound several times. We also texted my friend’s cell phone number to my iPhone so the person who found it could call us.
Redemption
About 15 minutes later, a call came in to my friend’s phone. A woman at the lost and found desk said she had my iPhone and wallet. I was so excited to retrieve them. Not one item was missing from my wallet. And somehow I knew nothing would be stolen. When I saw my two items, my heart was flooded with love from my Father in Heaven.
I thought to myself, What do I possibly have to worry about? My Daddy is the King of the World!
I’ll never know for sure how my iPhone and wallet went missing, but someone could have stolen them when I put my purse down and was talking to my friends. When I got home from Los Angeles, I transcribed Kirk’s blessings. For the third blessing, he said, “There’s something that belongs to you that’s been held back. Something you’ve been owed or that was robbed. I call forth what is rightfully yours. I call forth what was wronged to be made right in the name of Jesus.” Maybe Kirk’s prayer was prophetic. I don’t know that for sure either. But what I do know, is that God is for me, not against me. And He knows what I need even before I ask. And He is madly in love with me.
What’s the Message Here?
1. Deeply knowing who your Father in heaven really is and who you are in relation to Him changes how you respond to adversity. Once you know in your heart that you come from royal blood, and anything bad that happens to you will be made right, it transforms your worry into trust. It’s sort of like a bratty kid feeling entitled, only in this case you’re not being bratty and you really are entitled to good things because God is a good, good Father and He loves to give gifts to His children.
2. Worshiping God in the face of adversity is powerful. The enemy hates that kind of confidence in the Lord. If you have the choice of worshiping God or running around and looking for lost items or fretting about your desperate needs, maybe choosing to worship God is the best thing you can do. Maybe the solution to your problem will come after spending time praising Him, releasing your worries to Him, and reminding yourself that your Daddy, The King of the World, has your back and is fighting for you. I encourage you to try this the next time you face a trial.
Want to Take the 2-Week Prayer Challenge?
I invite you to join me in not praying for any of your own needs for two weeks. Not forever, just two weeks to see how it transforms how you pray and how you think of your Heavenly Father. You can still pray for others, but refrain from asking God for things you need. Just trust that He already knows what you need. If you decide to take on this challenge, drop me a line below and let me know how it goes.
I’m praying for you… that you will know in you heart that you are a son/daughter of the Lord Most High and that your Daddy who loves and adores you is The King of the World! And I bless you with a deeper trust in your Heavenly Father.
Questions or comments? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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