“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,”
(Hebrews 4:16 ESV)
Honored by an Audacious Ask
I was honored in a way I never would have anticipated, nor expected to be so meaningful.
A fifth-grade girl on the basketball team I coach was holding my travel mug while I demonstrated a move. When I turned to get my mug back, she looked at me with a smile and said, “Can I take a sip?! It’s coffee!!”
Don’t worry, my answer was no. Surprisingly, I found myself delighted that she would ask. I admired her audacious ask, and her candidness.
By her request, I understood that this girl found me approachable. She also thought there was a chance I’d say yes to her request. And by the nature of asking to share a drink with me, she considered us to be somewhat close and comfortable with one another.
God Welcomes Your Audacious Asks
Before I belabor the point, let me get right to it. God wants you to ask him for a sip of his coffee. Well, not quite. But in principle, right on. Let me prove it from the Bible.
Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace” (ESV).
Matthew 7:7-8 says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (ESV).
Mark 11:24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” (ESV).
If you have put your trust in Jesus, God welcomes you to approach him like you would approach a loving father.
There is not only a chance, there’s a promise that he will say yes to many things you ask of him. He actually wants you to feel close to him, and comfortable with asking him for both what you need and what you want.
God is honored by our audacious asks when those asks are rooted in a close relationship with him. God is honored by our bold approach, when that approach is founded in faith that he welcomes and delights in us.
Approach God in Faith Today
What I say here isn’t a whole treatise on prayer, it’s just one thought, and it must be understood alongside all the other teachings on prayer from Scripture.
But this point is still included in Scripture: God loves when you come to him in faith, even about what you may think are silly things, and he’s honored by your willingness to draw near to him.
Wonderfully more than that—God delights to say yes to your prayers.
Ask God for a sip—ask him for whatever is on your mind—he will love that you asked him, whether he says yes or no. And he might just love to surprise you with answering your audacious ask with a yes.