Have you ever rushed into something before you prayed about it? Yeah, me too. Have you ever worked yourself silly trying to do something and never took the time to pray about it? Me too! Have you ever not prayed about it because you’re sure God’s already doing his thing and it’s taken care of better than you could even ask for anyway? Oh my gosh, it’s like we’re sisters … I totally do that too!

Get this, the majority of the time I don’t pray about things because of my extreme and utter faith in God’s goodness and power. He doesn’t need me to guide him. He doesn’t need me to tell him what’s going on. He knows every detail before I even become aware of it and he’s already got it all worked out. I spend most of my time thinking I’m just getting out of his way and trusting God, not going into the board room and helping make the decisions.

In my realization that I’m not in control, I’ve forfeited the privilege that God has invited me in to take an active role in the allocation of his power. In my abundance of faith in his ability, I’ve missed his invitation to be part of his great works. I often don’t pray about it because I know God doesn’t need my input.

And here’s what God revealed to me about that yesterday … he doesn’t NEED my input, but he DESIRES my input. He wants me to come in close enough to talk to him about the things he already knows about. He wants me to seek his favor and blessings when he already has my name written on them. He wants me to tell him I’m counting on him 100%, when he never intended to ever let me down anyway.

When you fail to ask God, sometimes you miss his answers because you never formulated the request. You forfeit the opportunity to be in absolute awe over his power at work in specific areas of your life because you left it as a blanket prayer and God wanted to knit it all together piece by piece. You don’t see the knitting together if you’re just blanket praying this thing.

Look back and you too remember those very specific prayers that God answered so clearly. It’s because you ASKED!

James 4: 2 “You do not have because you do not ask God.”

Oh my goodness, what are we missing in our lives because we never asked God for it?

I wonder if he had the strength and willpower for you to resist that temptation you stumbled so hard into if you would have only asked him for it. ABSOLUTELY. God never wanted his girl to struggle with this. He never intended for you, his prized and precious chosen one, to fall into this temptation, but you didn’t ask him for the strength available to you. So you feel powerless, you feel defeated, you feel stuck because you lack what God had designed for you.

Hey, you could start asking him now.

For those of us who have young adult children who have left the house, we have an insight on the dynamics of this relationship with God. We have lived longer than our children, so we know a little better than them. If they would call us and ask us before diving head first into some of their stupid decisions, we would be able to save them so much trouble, but they don’t ask do they? They move out and they spread their wings and sometimes they dive bomb into world class stupid decisions. All while you could have saved them from that. You would have done anything to save them from it. But they were off living in their freedom instead of calling home to ask Mom for some advice.

And how much more does God know than us? He’s done a whole lot more living that us. He’s literally seen IT ALL. Not only has he seen everything that has ever happened in the history of the world, but he’s already seen the end and knows what is coming next. He’s got this thing figured out! AND he’s waiting on your phone call (I mean prayer) to get a little guidance. Girl, CALL HOME! Talk to your Daddy! Your Heavenly Father wants nothing more than to help you navigate this. He wants to help you avoid the dangerous detours. He wants to help you step into your greatest and fullest potential, and he would prefer to get you there without self-destructing along the way.

Ring ring ring, yeah hello, Papa God, I’ve got this thing going on, this decision to make, this problem, this opportunity, this hot mess of a relationship, this disaster, this crazy awesome offer, this bright idea … God, what should I do? I’m asking for your advice. I need your guidance. Would you help me get this right?

That’s the difference between a child who knows no matter how bad they screw up while they’re away at college, Mama will always welcome them home … and a child who knows Mama could help them avoid screwing up and guide them to better things than they’re currently seeing. Both are absolutely undeniably right, one just makes this whole thing a lot easier.

God will always welcome you back no matter what. You can wander off in your freedom and make your world class stupid decisions. You can drag yourself back home addicted, broke, ashamed, and nearly gone, and God will welcome you back with the widest open arms of nothing but love and compassion. Every single time, without fail, he will dust you off and redirect you on a better path. He will even use all those wrong paths for good things in your future. He’s that good!

But, he can also help you avoid all of that in the first place. He desperately WANTS to guide you. He wants to show you his best plan and let you step right into it without delay. He wants to save you from all the things that could create your guilt and shame, eating away at you from the inside. His original design for your life is never touched by any of those things, but if you’re not seeking that design you will get tangled in the webs of this world and stumble into darkness. He can no doubt save you, but if you haven’t gotten tangled yet, why wait until you are … ASK FOR HIM TO GUIDE YOU TO HIS BEST FOR YOUR LIFE.

Just as the college girl could call home and Mama would guide her in things to avoid before she stepped into them, we could ask God to guide us before we take the next step. Guidance comes to those who ask for it. If you’re not asking, my guess is you’re stumbling a whole lot. You’re wandering off on dead end paths growing frustrated that you’re not getting anywhere.

God will welcome you back anytime anywhere. Never question that. He’s one prayer for help away. He’s the prodigal son’s father waiting for the return, and when you return he runs out to meet you and throws you a party.

But also remember, you have an invitation to a relationship that keeps you from ever wandering away in the first place. You have the opportunity to talk to God about everything first and receive his almighty guidance, favor and blessings.

Yes, God knows everything. He doesn’t require you telling him anything. His power is unlimited. He’s not stuck until you pray about it. But he has so much more to give you if you will only ask. Ask him because you genuinely desire to follow his will. Ask him because you know his way is better than your own. Ask him because you trust his plan is ridiculously good and you want to step right into that goodness.

What do you want to talk to Him about today? He has something for you here if you will ask.