For years, I longed for an intimate prayer life with God. Despite my efforts, it felt like I was piecing together a puzzle others had already solved. Though I came ready to praise the King of kings, I hesitated to approach my Father with childlike dependence.

I had sound doctrine, but my relationship lacked intimacy. Over time, God taught me that intimacy with Him grows when I bring both praise and need.

Have you ever turned to God and still felt a lack of depth in your relationship with Him? Ask yourself if you are bringing Him everything, including your needs. God will allow us to find ourselves in situations where our neediness is exposed.

Though the world screams otherwise, we are not enough within ourselves.

God is aware and mindful of our frailty; He isn’t disappointed by our humanity (Psalm 103:14). In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus invites us to ask for our daily needs. When we bring our cares to Him in prayer, He relieves anxiety by offering peace, calms our troubled hearts with His presence, and comes alongside us to lift our heavy burdens.

I experienced this when I was unexpectedly bedridden for the majority of seven years. He was sufficient!

Today, I look back on those years of sickness as years of growing deeper in my relationship with God. They were powerful years as I depended on my Father like a little child and saw my Father take care of me.

Friend, your neediness is an invitation to intimacy with God.

We need this reminder because we tend to worry instead of casting our cares on Him. Worry isn’t productive. We won’t stumble upon a solution by gazing at our problems with our limitations. It won’t even add a minute to our lives. God has given us Himself, and we can freely go to Him for all things.

Worry also has a way of physically affecting our bodies, and striving makes us weary. But when we trust our neediness to God in prayer, we’ll receive peace that passes our understanding (Philippians 4:6–7).

God will use your neediness to draw you closer to Himself. That’s often His goal. His invitation to daily bread requires daily communication.

He could provide once a year or even once a week. But He wants more for you. God doesn’t want you to go to Him like you do your weekly grocery shopping, checking it off your list until next week. Instead, He wants you to experience Him walking with you and caring for you day by day.

Your neediness is welcome, and He is more than enough for you. Your current physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are invitations to come to your Father.

“Give us today the food we need” (Matthew 6:11) is a prayer your Heavenly Father will never refuse.

He is only waiting for you to ask.

For deeper reflection, listen to Matthew 6 today.

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