In Luke 11:9 and 10, Jesus says, " 9 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

In this passage, after His disciples approached Him and asked Him to teach them to pray, (see verse 1) Jesus is teaching his disciples some principles of prayer. This passage is showing the disciples principles for their walk and their prayer life with God through the person of Jesus, the anointed One. Verse 9 and the ones that follow it are not a 'carte blanche' endorsement from Jesus for treating God like some sort of cosmic concierge whose function it is to get us whatever it is we want.

In his letter, which deals largely with faith that works, James warns, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures." ( James 4:3) Even at that, we do have normal and proper needs that should be addressed in prayer. In a complimentary passage by Paul in Philippians 4:6 we read; "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;"

You notice that Paul doesn't go on to say that, "and God will fulfill every single request, and also in just the fashion you require to make you happy, since you know what is best, and He doesn't always." What Paul does go on to say is that if we have a heart of thankfulness in prayer for what God has already done for us, and as we place our trust in Him, that no matter what of our requests are fulfilled, that God will give us the peace that only He can provide through Jesus, our LORD. Paul also tells us to dwell on the true, the noble, the just, the pure, the lovely, the things of good report and whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy.

If you're dwelling on such things, it should be harder and harder for us to "ask amiss" as James warns, and our faith should be working in the right direction, seeking the things of God and not of men, and asking according to His holy will. If we ask according to His will, then we can know that as our Father God Who knows and cares for our true and proper needs, the answers will come in His wise and perfect timing for His purposes.

Everything we need for spiritual success has been provided to us, and God has left us with no excuse for failure. He has however, given us His mercy and forgiveness through the power of His prodigious love for us by His grace, along with His encouragement to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking in His will. Peace.