I read in Matthew 6:8 about praying simply. But what strikes me afresh are Jesus’s words that “your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” I think about how God knows what we need already, even if we do not know what we need.
Sometimes we don’t know what we need. We think we know, but we don’t. Or we are sure we know, but we’re off the mark. We think we need this or that provision or this or that to happen, but it’s actually not what we need.
I’m learning to ask God to guide me to pray for what I need because He already knows. How wonderful! Imagine coming to God and saying, “I’m not sure what I need! I’m confused and unsure. But You know. Help me to pray for what I truly need.”
I have found that what I truly need has everything to do with more of God’s presence, but sometimes what comes to mind is more of something in particular or less of something else. The Holy Spirit will teach us in prayer what we need and what we don’t need. It’s a marvelous mystery that God searches our hearts and knows us better than we know ourselves. I wish my college self knew this better. What a confusing and turbulent time! I would tell her to simply ask God to lead her into the abundant life He’s designed since she cannot possibly know what she truly needs.