Judges 13:8-9
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born.” And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her.
The truth is that God hears our prayers and listens to us. Manoah and his wife, Zorah, were childless. The Angel of the Lord (Christ in the Old Testament) appeared before Zorah to tell her she not only was going to have a son, he would be used in a mighty way to deliver Israel from the Philistines. When Zorah tells her husband, Manoah, about the appearance and promise, Manoah wants to see the Angel of the Lord himself and hear the promise himself. Manoah appears dull spiritually in this story, but we see him and his wife seeking God in prayer, none-the-less. Manoah asks God to appear again and provide more answers to his questions. God does and the story of Samson's birth is repeated to him. In James we are told that if we seek wisdom God will give it:
James 1:5-6
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
Manoah might not be the best example to us of a "man of faith" but in this story he shows us that God answers the promise that James would later tell us. God gives wisdom and will answer when we call upon Him. Note what Jesus told His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 7:7-11
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
God gives to us for His honor and His glory. We can't just ask for things for our desires. Notice what James tells us later in his epistle:
James 4:3-4
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Our heart's desire when coming to God is more important that what we are asking of God. Manoah and Zorah wanted a son, but, more importantly wanted to know how that son would be used by God. God wants us to ask Him for things, that shows our dependance on Him. But, He wants us to ask in a spirit of glorifying Him. That shows our honor for Him.
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