Here we are again on a Monday morning seeking to make space for God. The purpose of our Abiding Space blogs is to help us together figure out how to not just insert Christ into our daily lives, but to make Him the center of all we do. Our lives can be frantic, overwhelming, and stressful. As we learn to make Jesus a priority, first thing every day, all day, we can do more than cope; we can be overcomers!
This morning I texted someone saying Happy Monday. But instead of an exclamation point, I put a question mark at the end by accident.
Happy Monday?
Before I had time to correct it, I received a text back. Nope, not a happy Monday. By inadvertently putting a question mark at the end of my salutation, I had invited my friend into a vulnerable answer about why Mondays were not good. In fact, she asked me the question: “Are any Mondays good?” A deep, meaningful conversation transpired. Asking questions is a great way of drawing people into deeper than surface conversation.
Jesus invited His followers into these types of conversations, drawing out the why of their days. He was a master of questions, digging down into what really mattered.
What do you want me to do for you? (Mark 10:35)
What do you want? (John 1:35-37)
Do you want to get well? (John 5:6)
So today I want to challenge us to ask questions, questions posed to God and to others. As we seek to draw nearer to God, He will show us the true meaning and purpose of our lives, based on truth. What do we want Jesus to do for us? What is my purpose? Do we want to get well? Questions that dig into the why of following Jesus.
Jesus never offered fluffy answers. When James and John asked Jesus to give them the place of honor beside him on his right and left side, Jesus replied that they did not know what they were asking. He described that if they understood what they were asking for, they would not have asked:
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” Mark 10:38
Jesus was saying: Look, boys, you won’t be able to sit at my side, but you will walk the way of the cross. Sometimes we simply ask the wrong questions. Sometimes we think we want something and we beg God to answer our prayers when He has something so much better for us. Often we cannot see the big picture, and He leads us to ask the right questions.
So how do we know the right questions to ask? Jesus tells us:
When you ask you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3
Friends, our motives are key. If we want God-answers, then we need God-oriented motives. I learned this years ago when I asked the Lord for any whim and fancy that I wanted. Sometimes my requests were like looking to Santa Claus or putting an ask in the slot machine and just seeing what would pop out. Slowly but surely, the Lord taught me to check my motives; to seek His will, His plans, and then ask. God is not afraid of your questions. He has all the answers. But if you want to hear correctly, we need to pray that He adjusts our motives.
