Jesus taught us to ask God that our needs be met, our sins forgiven, and our souls protected. Every request we make of God for ourselves falls under one of these three headings. We can ask God for anything.

Anything? Health, wealth, and happiness? Yes! Love, acceptance, forgiveness? Of course! A luxury car, a million-dollar home, expensive clothing and jewelry? Sure! God invites us to ask him for anything we want or need. But that does not mean he is obligated to give us everything we ask for. A good parent sorts out his child’s requests, accepting some, rejecting others. So does God. When we pray, we must be ready to hear his answer.

I know that asking God for anything sounds extreme. Obviously, there are things we should not ask God for—the opportunity to sin without getting caught, for example. We should not ask God for anything contrary to his character or will for our lives. Unfortunately, we do not always know what those things are. Help robbing a bank is wrong, but is it okay to pray for profit or success in business? Permission to view pornography is out, but can we ask God for a beautiful wife or a handsome husband? There’s only one way to find out—through prayer.

The more we pray to God, you see, the more we hear from God. And the more we learn about God and his will for us, the better we understand what to ask of him. And when we learn what to ask of him, he gives it to us. Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matt. 21:22). This is not a magic formula, as if God commits himself to giving us whatever we really, really, really want. No, it is a statement about character. People with genuine faith know God well enough that they know the kind of prayers he answers.

This is why we must read the Bible and pray in tandem. God speaks to us through Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16–17, Heb. 1:1–2, 2 Peter 1:20–21). His words describe his character and will and set boundaries around our prayers. Should we pray for success, for example? Yes, but Scripture reminds us that God cares for our character more than our comforts (James 4:13–17), that “a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15), and that the wealthy have a moral responsibility to help the deserving poor (1 Tim. 6:17–19)—among other things.

That is also why we pray persistently. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you fill find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” This is not God’s carte blanche for our whims. It is an invitation to keep praying until we know the “Father in heaven [who gives] good gifts to those who ask him” (Matt. 7:7, 11).

So ask God for anything, but listen for his answer!