I asked the waiter, "Can I order something not on the menu?" The response of the waiter's eyes and facial expressions was "are you kidding? Want to order something that does not exist?" He looked at me as if it was something obvious and self-evident that I could not expect anything like that.
But I was serious. I asked him to ask the chef and I could actually order something not on the menu. The chef had no problem with that roast and I paid a fair price.
When we pray, we pray, knowing that God not only answers prayers that are on the "menu". We see our situation and we are thinking about what we expect from the master. We may pray with specific answers in mind, but restricts the client to a given "menu". (Luke 18:27, Matthew 19:26). We can ask for everything (joh 14:13-14). But even if our desires expressed to God for good reasons, we remember that God is able to answer our prayers in a way we never imagined. We limit our prayer life when we ask God for answers so specific that we close our eyes to the options ..
