Is Any Request Too Small?

Photo by Griffin Wooldridge on Unsplash

“You do not have, because you do not ask” (Jas. 4:2, ESV). James penned those words to some of the earliest Christians; yet, they likely apply to most of us today.

Is it possible we miss out on prayer’s blessings because we misunderstand prayer’s scope? We hear public prayers full of big, spiritual topics such as sin, forgiveness, the church, evangelism, the Bible, the cross, Christ, mercy, etc. And we pray about big concerns such as the sick, our country, or victims of the latest natural disaster.

Perhaps focusing on these legitimate items has helped foster the idea that prayer is for big requests—not small ones. Or, similarly, that prayer should be reserved for spiritual requests—not ones that seem more mundane. But, is that true? Is any request too small to bring to God in prayer? Consider three points that might increase our appreciation of prayer, our use of prayer, and our trust in God.

First, Jesus taught prayer as a necessary tool for getting through the day. Prayer should be used to ask: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). Any given meal may not seem either spiritually significant or terribly important, but Jesus said what will be on the dinner table later merits making a request to God. Why? Because it emphasizes our dependence on God, acknowledges God as the giver, and recognizes the food as a gift (cf. Jas. 1:17). Bread should never be sliced so thin that God is squeezed out.

Second, our cares are God’s concern. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). “Anxieties” translates the Greek merimna, which describes our cares, our distractions, our concerns, our being pulled simultaneously in different directions. If we take those things to God in prayer, we put their burden on him so that we need not carry the load. God has broad shoulders and there is no care too heavy for him. But, on the other end of the spectrum, neither is any care of ours too little for him. Why? Because God cares for us. A loving parent does not callously dismiss a sincere request from his child concerning something weighing on the child’s mind. The child’s concern may not be causing the parent anxiety, but the parent willingly takes on the concern because he loves the child. Just so with God.

Thankfully, Peter did not qualify his words by saying, “only cast your most important cares on God,” or “don’t bother God with small concerns.” We must never trivialize prayer, turn it into a venue for silly wishes, or approach it with selfish motives. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions” (Jas. 4:3). And, not every request will be God’s will (Jas. 4:15). But, if a thing is big enough to be a real concern in my life, then it is big enough to pray about—not because it’s big to God, but because it’s big to me.

Third, prayer is the vehicle by which we are to express unceasing thanks to God. As Paul wrote, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6). If our thanks in prayer is limited to weighty subjects (e.g. salvation, the church, Jesus’ blood), then we lose sight that God also deserves thanks for the sandwich eaten at lunch (as well as the safe drive, the unexpected refund check, the new shoes found on sale, the dependable automobile, the rain, the air conditioning, and a thousand other items). If we fail to thank God for the little things, then we rob him of glory and live as though we are more self-sufficient than is true. But that leads to this conclusion: If I have the duty to thank God for small blessings after they come, then I also have the right to ask God for small blessings before they arrive! To end where we began, “You do not have, because you do not ask.”