Prayer needs
We all have prayer requests that we consistently ask God for. Many of us make it a habit of systematically making our requests either first or second during prayer, especially when they are urgent. Now, the Bible encourages us to make our requests to God and not to cease doing so (Phil 4:6). Throughout Scripture, we are encouraged to make our petitions to God in prayer. Jesus said Ask and it shall be given unto you (Mt 7:7). A well-known Bible verse that we use to hold God to giving us what we want is Mark 11:24, where Jesus says that whatever we ask in prayer, we will receive it. Our prayers should focus on the things God can do for us, not on the things we want. James tells us that we do not know how to receive what we ask for, because we ask for things that induce our passions (Jm 4:3).
Matthew 20:20-21
20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
John and James’ mom wanted something from the Lord, but she did not know how to ask for it, because it was their petition and not hers. It was not a pressing need that her two sons had, or something that she needed his help with. She was asking for something that did not need to be prayed for. Praying for the wants of others will not constitute a granted response from the Lord. That is why Jesus asked Salome, the mother of the two disciples and minister to Jesus’ needs, “What do you want?” He did not ask the woman, What would you like me to do for you? As in the case of the two blind men. As Jesus and the multitude departed from Jericho, he encountered two blind men who, when they heard that it was he, shouted, “Lord, have mercy on us (Mt 20:32-34).” The multitude tried to stop the men from calling Jesus, but when Jesus heard them, he called them to him. Jesus asked the men, “What do you want me to do for you?” The two men had a personal need, like the paralyzed man near the pool called Bethesda (Jh 5:6). He had had his condition for 38 years and was brought to the pool to beg every day. So, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”
Philippians 4:6
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Matthew 7:7
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Mark 11:24
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
James 4:3
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
Matthew 20:32-34
32 And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?33 They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.
John 5:6
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?