• Romans 8:18 (NKJV)  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
  
• Isa 41:13, (NKJV)    For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
  
• Psalms 30:5, 11 (NKJV) Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
  You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

Asking God, or bringing our request unto God is basically one of the main literal meanings of prayer, and indeed we should. Not complicating ourselves but in a simple sense, we can ask from God, what we need or desire.

God loves to hear us calling on Him and He will answer us. God is glad when we look to Him and put our trust in Him. 

Jer 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible things you do not know (CSB)

So we can boldly come before God to ask with understanding of Who God is.

Hebrews 4:16, So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Ask God, Knowing 

• God loves us and desires that we come and ask Him – Jeremiah 33:3
  
• God knows before we even ask Him.
  • Matthew 6:8, .. for  your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.

Yet God still wants us to come and ask Him 

• James 4:2, You do not have because you do not ask. (CSB)

Asking God shows we are acknowledging God and trusting in God, instead of our own strength.

• There is nothing that God would not do for us
  • Romans 8:32,
    He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? (WEB)
    

We are able to see the future or what is best for ourselves, or even for others. So we should not insist in our own way thinking that we know. But rather trust God that God will grant us according to His way, what is best for us, and when is best for us to have. When God does not answer our prayer, or delays answering, we should resolve that God must be having a better plan or timing. Nevertheless, that does not mean we should just stop asking but press on to continuously bring to God because sometimes God is stretching our faith in Him to make us grow. (See later part, Luke 181~8, Lord Jesus teaching on praying persistently and not giving up)

• God desires to bless us and give us good things
  • Matt 7:7-   Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened. Or who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, who will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.

• Matthew 7:11, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (WEB)

• 1 Chron 4:10 Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked. (ESV)

• God honors when we put God first on our lives
  • Matt 6:33, But seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.

So How do we ask? 

• Believing, and not doubting
  • Matthew 21:21  So Jesus answered and said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ it will be done.  (NKJV)
  • Matthew 21:22 (NKJV)  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
  • James 1:6, But let him ask in faith, without any doubting (WEB)
  • Mark 9:23, All things are possible for the one who believes. (NASB)
  • James 5:15, the prayer of faith will [n]restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. (NASB)

• Persistently with Patience, trusting in God’s timing & His way
  • Luke 18:1~  He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up, … 

Lord Jesus spoke about a judge who is least willing to help anyone but helped a powerless, poor widow. Not because he wanted to, but it was to save himself from trouble since she kept bothering him.
Luke 18:7, Won’t God avenge his chosen ones who are crying out to him day and night…

• God hears us and sends answers but God sometimes allows delays
  Daniel 10:12~  from the first day that you committed yourself to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard. I’ve come in answer to[g] your prayers. However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for 21 days.
  
• Sometimes we need to patiently wait for God’s timing, for there is an appointed time for everything.
  Eccl 3:11, He has made everything beautiful in its time (BSB) 

• Ask first for God’s Will to be done
  • When we take care of matters of God, God will take care of everything else, Matthew 6:33

• According to Word of God

Both Nehemiah and Daniel prayed according to the what God said in the Word of God, and they were answered

• Nehemiah 1:8~9, Please remember what you spoke in commanding your servant Moses. You said, ‘If you rebel, I will scatter you among the nations but if you return to me, keeping my commands and doing them, even if your exiled people are in the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my Name.
• Daniel 9:2~ I, Daniel, understood from the books according to the word of the LORD to the prophet Jeremiah that the number of years for the desolation of Jerusalem would be seventy.
  So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. (CSB)
  
• Sincere and earnest
  • James 5:16, The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

• In the name of Lord Christ Jesus

John 14:13, Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (WEB)

• In troubled times.
  • Psalms 50:15, Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me. (ESV)
  • Philippians 4:6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. (WEB)

So whatever situation or status we are in, we can come to God just as we are and bring our request unto God, whether it is for healing, help, deliverance, provision, protection, blessing, or any other.

It is God’s delight and not dread to hear and answer our prayer. Then when our prayers are answered, our faith will grow, we will grow in God, and we should give thanks to God, as well as testify to others of how real and good God is.

During prayer time we also need to listen to God, to receive what God is telling us.

This requires us to wait and incline our heart to receive from God 

Prayer is not only talking to God but time of hearing and listening. Many will say so, but it seems the vast majority does not really practice or even realize it.

Prayer is communication, and God never meant our walk with God to be one-way communication. In fact, God desires to speak to us, and not just listen to us. 

Relationship

We can see that God meant for close relationship and communication with God right from the beginning of creation, as in the book of Genesis.

• God instructed Adam, told him to name the animals (Gen 2), and Adam could recognise the sound or voice of God in the garden. He must have been so familiar with the sound of God.
  • Genesis 3:10, He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden.. (NASB)
• God spoke to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3)
• God spoke to Cain (Genesis 4)
• God walked with Enoch (Genesis 5)
• God spoke to Noah (Genesis 6:13~ )
• God spoke to Abraham who was called friend of God, Isaac, Jacob, Moses etc.
  

We may be wondering, why in that case, there seems to be such rare cases in current times. I believe we can also notice from above, that as the time goes, there seem to be fewer people being so close to God, and God seems to be speaking much less.

I believe it just shows us that as sins come into our lives, separating us from God, and as we go further away from God, we, His creations, are just seeking God less, desiring and inclining to hear God less.

Rather than God who does not speak to us, it is us who are not interested in hearing God.

Yet God says to us,

• Jeremiah 29:13~14, You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. 14 I’ll be found by you,’ declares the Lord (ISV)

When Lord Jesus came to show us the way to God, our creator, and our Father, He exemplified about hearing and seeing what Father God shows, and accordingly obeying God. This is because Lord Jesus came to restore our relationship with God, cleaning our sins and getting sins out of the way, and bringing us back to the closeness, and communication with God.

• John 12:49, For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me gave me a commandment, what I should say and what I should speak (WEB)
• John 5:19, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. (WEB)

Waiting on God to Listen

Here is why we should wait on God, and incline our heart to hear God.

• Receive strength
  • Isaiah 40:30~31 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint (NKJV)

• Psalms 27:14 Wait on the LORD. Be courageous, and he will strengthen your heart. Wait on the LORD! (ISV)
• Isaiah 30:15, In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength. (NASB)
  
• Resting in God
  • As we wait on the Lord and quieten, we will be able to enjoy true rest in the Lord. When we look to God, lay all down before Him, God’s peace will fill us.
    
    It is different from yoga or “emptying of mind” etc, although it may seem similar. Emptying of mind can also be dangerous, because we do not want any wrong thing to enter into our mind or soul.
    Rather, when we are waiting on God, we are looking and concentrating on God and inclining on God,  filling our heart with God, which will push away ourself but replacing with God, Who is good..The result will be peace and eventually to joy and strength.

• Cleansing and Healing
  • Just like detoxing for our body, our soul and our spirit too need detox. Day by day we collect a lot of harmful wastes. Negative things of the world, fears, worries, discouragements, hurtful things, anger, lustful things, immoral thoughts, evil ideas, selfishness, pride, and many other undesirable things that we encounter. However, more damaging are those that arise from ourselves, many times as a result of the negative things we receive from the world. Lord Jesus mentioned in Matthew 5:11, “It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that defiles him; but it is what comes out of his mouth–*that* defiles a man” (WEB version). He was saying it is not physical food etc that defiles us but when we harbor and entertain evil thoughts inside us to a point of speaking out and acting out the evil thoughts, those are things that will make us unclean. It will damage us, and make our spirit and soul sick. 

As we come and wait before the Lord, God many times reminds us of such and we need to let go of those things before God, laying them down and surrendering ourselves to God. When we release those, we will find the cleansing inside us. It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that defiles him; but it is what comes out of his mouth–*that* defiles a man.”

What will detox us and cleanse us is through the Word of God, and from being with God as we receive Who God is. His love, mercy, grace, faithfulness and many more.
With those rubbish in our lives removed, we will find ourselves being lighter, and joyful, looking at things differently in a better way, and treating others better which can also result in improvement even in a natural realm, for instance, in relationships with others. 

Negative things like worry, fears, hatred, heaviness also hinders us from performing better in our daily activities and even in physical health. However, when those are removed, we will find we will be healthier even physically, and able to be more fruitful in the things that we do, including improving in creativity.

• Gets us aligned to God and His Will
  • Psalm 139:23~24, Search me, God, and know my heart.
    Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. (WEB)
    
• Soul searching and reflecting
  • As we wait on God in quietness and focus on what God wants to say to us, we will be led to soul searching. The Holy Spirit will prompt us on our inner motives, what is our true treasure in our heart and why we are seeking God.
    • Jeremiah 17:10, “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (ESV)
      
• Pray according to God’s Will
  • When we wait, it should be to hear what God’s will and way is. If we patiently and fervently continue, God will lead us to His will, lead us to have a glimpse of God’s heart. This can lead us to know what and how we should pray for, and give us direction, and teach us what we should do.
    
    Praying is good but our prayer will not be effective, or be answered, if we are praying for wrong things. Praying according to what God said in His word is good but we still need to understand if we are getting the correct understanding and application to our lives. Otherwise, we may go amiss in our prayer.

As such we need to be attentive to what God is saying to us through the Holy Spirit as we wait on God. What is in God’s heart, what is God’s will or direction, and what God means when He said in His Word, and if it is right for us to pray etc

• Priority changes
• As we wait on the Lord and seek God’s way, we will realize Who is truly the ultimate boss. Who we owe all to and should be bowing down to, Who God is. Who we are, and Who is the one who truly loves and cares for us. Who we should be listening to.
  

Many times in waiting on God, I come to realize that it is God Who loved us and gave all, that is His own Son, for us. Then I am convinced that He would want the very best for me. This means if God is letting me go through difficult times, then there must be a reason, and it should be for a better outcome. Because that is what the true loving father would do. The key difference is that God knows the future, whereas no one else including our enemy does. So I better trust and seek God, Who also has the ultimate power over all.
  

• Matt 6:33, Seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well (WEB

• Make us Ready while waiting
  • Habakkuk 2:10,  I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost. There I will wait to see what the LORD says and how he will answer my complaint. (NLT)

There are so many benefits of waiting on God, and personally, it is something I came to enjoy although it still is not easy many times. However, it proved to be such a great blessing that I hope all will come to experience it for themselves..

Start prayer with giving thanks to God.

When we come to God acknowledging Who He is and praising God, we may naturally be led to remember what God has done for us. Even if we are not automatically led, it is always good to make it a point to remember and to show our gratitude for all things God has given to us.

Psalms 103:2 – Bless the LORD, my soul, And do not forget any of His benefits (NASB)

Why is Thanking God important? Why give thanks?

• Show our appreciation for what God has been good to us, acknowledging that it is God Who has done and provided for us and not ourselves or others
  • Psalms 115:1, Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name give glory because of your mercy and faithfulness (NAB)
    
• It is a rightful thing to do, because all us being weak and having sins, do not deserve any good, but to be punished. Yet by God’s mercy God gives us good things.
  • Psalms 103:10, He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities (NKJV)
  • Matthew 5:45, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (WEB)
    
• Builds faith in us to pray and ask God as we are being reminded that God Who is good, has done it, will do it again. It leads us to pray with greater faith, persistence, and patience, trusting in God.
  • Romans 8:32, He who didn’t spare his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how would he not also with him freely give us all things? (WEB)
    
• It is an act of Faith. By giving thanks we are basically telling that we believe God will see us through. So it is basically thanking God in advance for what God is going to do even though we do not know what or how exactly
  • Hebrews 11:1, Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen.
  • Lord Jesus thanked Father God first before the miracle of feeding five thousands..
    • Matthew 14:19~, he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, broke and gave the loaves ..They all ate and were filled…  twelve baskets …left over from the broken pieces.
  • Story of Geoge Mueller and giving thanks for food for 300 orphans
    • When man of faith George Mueller was running an orphanage, and one day when there was no food for the 300 orphan children, he had them sit on a dining table prepared for food. Then he prayed and thanked God for providing food for them. Right after he ended thanksgiving, the baker brought bread to give them saying he just could not sleep and kept baking bread. Then the milkman came telling them to please take all the milk because his cart wheel just broke  and he did not know what to do with a cart full of milk now stuck right in front of their door. 

• We are confessing that we are trusting in God even though things may seemingly be hard; that God is able to turn the situation around for the good of us
  • Rom 8:28, We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose (WEB)
    
• Giving thanks to God and praising God Help us in coming, seeking and worshiping God, entering into the presence of God, as it reminds us of God’s goodness towards us
  • Ps 100:4, Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name (NAB)
    
• Reminds us that we are God’s creation and children, and that God loves us
  • Matt 7:10,11, who is there among you who, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? …
    how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (WEB)
  • Ps 103:13-14, As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him (ISV)
    
• As we ascribe thanks and glory to God, we are showing our humility and submitting to God that it is all God’s goodness and not our own effort or good doings.
  • Psalms 115:1, Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name be the glory, for your loving kindness and for your faithfulness (NHEB)
    
• It is a right attitude and we are placing ourselves in right position to receive answer and blessing
  • Luke 17:17~ Jesus answered, “Weren’t the ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you.”
    

• Praising God exalts and declares about God. It helps us to focus on God regardless of circumstance and situation that we are facing, while giving thanks involves us and relates us to God as we are reminded and say to God what it means to us.
  
• Giving thanks lets us reflect and opens our eyes to God’s goodness towards us, that It is not someone else’s story, as if God is far away. It will not have much meaning to us if it is a third party’s story, and experience. But thanking God makes us realize God’s greatness and goodness is towards us, individually and personally, and not just someone else. 
  
• As we do, it will lead us to see God’s goodness and we will become positive, and with hope, and strength, instead of feeling down and hopeless. This in turn will change even our behavior and our better behavior and attitude will produce better outcomes and consequences even in the natural realm. 

So there is no harm but only good outcome by giving thanks to God. Then why don’t we start, continue and even do more?   

What to Thank God?

We can thank God for what God has already done first of all, but also for what God is doing currently and continuously. Then we can believe and trust God, and by faith thank God for what God will be doing and already has in store for us.

• What God has done, is doing, and will be doing
  • First and most of all, God has given us His very best, that is Lord Christ Jesus. His only Son.
    • John 3:16, For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life (WEB)
  • Given us life
    • If we believe it is the right thing to thank our parents for bringing us to this earth, we sure need to thank God Who
      • Made us, and gave us the breath of life
      • Gave us new life as new creation in Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5:17 )
      • Prepared for us the eternal life through Christ Jesus (John 3:16)

Here is a verse that can remind us every time of what things to thank God for. It will be good not just to read but memorize

• Psalms 103:2~14  (NASB) Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget any of His benefits;
  • Who pardons all your guilt,
  • Who heals all your diseases;
  • Who redeems your life from the pit,
  • Who crowns you with favor and compassion;
  • Who satisfies your years with good things,
    So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
  • The Lord performs [b]righteous deeds
    And judgments for all who are oppressed.
  • The Lord is compassionate and gracious, 
  • Slow to anger and abounding in mercy.
  • He will not always contend with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
  • He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our guilty deeds.
  • For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him
    As far as the east is from the west,
    So far has He removed our wrongdoings from us.

Take Action Today

• Start remembering and give thanks
  • If we can not remember, just go through the list above on what to thank God for
• Do it everyday  

I believe it will change something in us, and can turn our Despair to Hope, Fear to Faith, Sadness to Rejoicing, Weak to Strength

God loves to bless us. So let’s get ourselves ready by starting with giving thanks for all God has done and in all circumstances, trusting in God’s love and faithfulness, that is by Faith. 

• Rom 8;28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.

1Thess 5;16~18 Always rejoice. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus toward you.