When my last child was about 11 years of age, he asked when he would start to drive. All his senior ones in the car, including me, were bemused. I had to inform him that, by law, he still had some seven years to go before he could legally handle the steering. His was a case of a burning desire that was expressed prematurely. He is now in his mid-20s and has gained quite some proficiency in handling the wheels. When he asked about driving more than a decade earlier, it was a desire expressed prematurely.

“Asking for things that we have no right to is an exercise in futility…Even when we have right to what we are asking, we should still keep it in mind that God only makes all things beautiful in His time.”

Sometimes, we have things like this occurring in our prayers. In the passage before us, Paul warned that believers should not engage in premature judgment of issues, events, and persons. Perhaps this same admonition can serve for the prayers we make and their timing. The Lord Jesus stated in Matthew 7:7-8 that we should ask, seek, and knock; with the assurance that what we ask for will be granted. However, this is not a license for frivolous requests or premature scrambling for things. James put paid to this in his writing. He explained why people ask God for things and they do not receive; it is for the singular reason that they ask for wrong things. The Message Bible says it even better: “And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way” (James 4:3). Asking for things that we have no right to is an exercise in futility. Even when we have right to what we are asking, we should still keep it in mind that God only makes all things beautiful in His time.