asking God good questions

Today we have several different people ask Jesus questions in our reading from the One Year Bible. The selection is Mark 12:18-37.

One group comes to Jesus and tries to trick Him. Now, let's think about this. Here they have God HIMSELF standing before them. And rather than ask Him important questions about their lives, and the meaning of life itself, they try to trick Him with a question about marriage. Of course He easily sees through their duplicity and answers their question with no difficulty.

Then we meet someone a little wiser. He sees that Jesus "answered well" and so he asks Him, "What is the greatest commandment?" And Jesus tells him. He says that Jesus's answer is a good one, and adds to it a little. Jesus compliments him on his wisdom.

We are in the same position as these men today. Jesus is here with us. And we can ask Him whatever we want. Most people, realizing they can talk to God, end up asking Him one question, or a version of it anyway: "Why?" And the problem is, most of them don't even know what they mean by it. They're just complaining that something didn't go the way they wanted. And of course, God understands our pain and does want to hear from us when we're hurting.

But we shouldn't end our prayers with "Why?" We should listen to His answer, which is usually Himself (He IS the answer. He's the truth we're looking for. He's the reason that, deep down, answers each of our questions, no matter how we understand them.) and then agree with Him, like the man in the story did. "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," is a very powerful way to agree with Him.

God, thank You for being there for us to ask questions. Please help us ask wisely.