Can You Pray About That?

God, please let the swelling in my feet die down so I can wear those cute shoes to the wedding.

God, please help me find a parking spot near the cart corral.

God, please let the elephants be out at the zoo today so my toddler doesn't throw a fit.

Photo credit: kevin dooley / Foter.com / CC BY

Maybe those sound more like #firstworldproblems than prayer requests, but, let's be honest, we've all thrown some pretty silly ones out there in our lives. Usually a prayer request like this leaves me feeling guilty for even asking for such a menial thing when children are dying and people are going hungry in our world. And, intentions like this often lead me to the question, "Is there such thing as a silly prayer request?"

To answer that question, first let's think about who God is. I can't even pretend to sum up who He is, but there are things we know to be true. God is all powerful. He is capable of moving mountains. God is not limited by human perceptions of time and matter. And, we know God is very invested and interested in our salvation; He wants to spend eternity with us.

Knowing those things, I tend to think that, no, there is no such thing as a silly prayer request. If God is omnipotent, benevolent and capable of anything, there is no reason we shouldn't ask Him for anything and everything we desire.

Just because we ask that someone send us a life in Candy Crush before the kids wake up from a nap doesn't mean that God will be too tied up to console a woman who is experiencing the heartbreak of a miscarriage. God can do it all, and He will do it all, as long as it is good for our souls.

We might not always know why some prayers are answered to our liking while others are not, but we need to keep asking. God greatly desires a relationship with us, and I have to imagine that it makes Him smile when we find ourselves in a mundane or slightly annoying situation and our first instinct is to turn to Him. If we are willing to ask for His help with the "silly" things, we are much more likely to ask for His grace in life's bigger trials.

So, I guess there is no such thing as a silly prayer request. Any conversation that keeps us close to God is not silly. Not one single bit.