What Do You Want from Jesus?

May 29, 2026

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked James and John in Mark 10:36. They reply, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory,” (Mk. 10:37) causing an uproar among the rest of the disciples when they find out.

Who are James and John to request such an honor? Why would they receive places of honor and not the rest of the disciples? Because, you see, if James and John sit in places of honor, that means less honor for the rest of them. Thereby exposing a common problem – competition, jealousy, and a mindset that believes that more for others means less for them.

Asking for What You Want

The very idea of James and John asking for positions of honor strikes against one of my beliefs growing up. We were not to ask for what we wanted. Rather, in all things, we were to ask for God’s will. In the case of a need, it might be okay to ask for this, but then how do you determine whether something is a want or a need? Perhaps James and John felt they needed this honor for whatever reason.

No, asking God for what you wanted was frowned upon. And so, I never asked for what I wanted, I only asked for God’s will.

But now that I’m older and becoming bolder, am I bold enough to ask God for what I want? How can I do that after a lifetime of praying, “thy will be done”?

Learning God’s Will

Thomas Green in his book, Weeds Among the Wheat, tells the story of going shopping with his mother to buy ties for his dad. After surveying all the ties, she picked out the ones she thought he would like, and out of those she picked the two she thought he would like best. And she was right. After forty years of living together, she knew what pleased him. (p. 62).

In a similar way, the longer we interact with God and pray, the more we become familiar with God so that, after a lifetime of praying, “Thy will be done,” our will becomes more aligned with God’s will. After a lifetime of working to purify our intentions, we can ask for what we want.

What Do I Want Jesus to Do?

Jesus was asking James and John what they wanted him to do, and so I asked myself, “What do I want Jesus to do for me?”

If I can be so bold, I would ask God to end the war in the Ukraine; bring peace to the Middle East; no more famines and disease in Africa and elsewhere. I want people to take the time, energy, and resources that are being spent on war, and use that to focus on climate change, health care for all, ending poverty and homelessness. I want people to live and work together in peace. It would require a change in people for this to happen. I believe God wants this as well.

Now for those who may claim I’m advocating we give up our weapons and let bullies run roughshod over us, no, that is not what I want. Bullies need to be stood up to. They need to learn they can’t take advantage of those weaker than them.

People, all people, need to change before we can see the change I want.

Human Nature

What is it about humans that we are so cruel to others and so selfish? We all struggle with the seven deadly sins – pride, envy, anger, gluttony, lust, sloth, and greed.

God made us this way. It’s innate in even the best of us. God needs to take care of it, right? If you make a mess, you clean it up. To which God may say, I created people, gave them a beautiful place to live in, the Garden of Eden, and they rejected it. God may remind us about free will (don’t get me started on free will. What was God thinking?). And then God might say that you people made this mess, so you need to clean it up.

If I were to continue to press God about cleaning up the mess, God may remind me that he did that once before, with the flood. Do I really want God to do this? Or am I willing to do what it takes to make the changes, day after day, bit after bit, one person at a time. God is willing to wait for us to get it right.