Don’t Be Afraid to Ask

1 Kings 3:5-13 (NKJV)
5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?"

Zechariah 10:1 (NKJV)
 Ask the LORD for rain in the time of the latter rain. The LORD will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone.

Matthew 7:7-11 (NKJV)
7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Matthew 21:22 (NKJV)
22 And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.

Luke 11:9-13 (NKJV)
9 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

John 14:13-14 (NKJV)
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

There are so many verses in the bible where God tells us to JUST ASK!  Now, I don’t know about you but I don’t have any problem at all asking for the “big” things.  But I seem to feel this guilt about asking for the little things.  I feel like God has “bigger fish to fry” so to speak, than to worry about my little things.  He is too busy or too important, and maybe He is looking down at me saying, “Really?  There are people who are starving in the world and you want me to help you move into a house closer to the school?  Really?”

As I mature and get to know Him better, I realize that Yes, He wants to be “my everything.”  Big and small.  Everything.  We are not meant to control our lives but to give them up to God- in their entirety.

My daughter is a very good reader.  In fact, I would say that her reading level exceeds her reading interest.  Is anyone following me?  She is eight and although she can read anything I can read, she is just not interested in some of the more mature topics that are written at her “level.” 

She is required to take what is called an AR (accelerated reader) test on a book that she chooses from the library.  That book must be selected from books that are determined to be at her reading level.

Every week she comes home with this large book and every week, she attempts to read it but is quickly bored by it. 

She has a lovely teacher who has said that if the child is struggling with taking the AR test on their library book, they are welcome to read another book (as long as it is at their reading level) and do a Story Map instead to prove their comprehension. 

So I told my daughter to take a book in that she enjoys reading (also at her level in my opinion) and ask her teacher if she could do the story map.

She loved this idea- all of it except the “asking the teacher for permission” part.  Instead of her asking, she wanted ME to ask for her. 

I explained to her that too many times in life, we don’t ask for what we want and therefore, end up not getting what we want.  Has there ever been a time in life where you didn’t get what you wanted merely because you couldn’t find the courage to just ask for it?

I admit, sometimes it’s hard to ask for what we want.  We face a risk of possible rejection and rejection hurts. 

But we are promised in so many places that if we ask God, He is listening.  By His nature, we know that He is loving and kind.  Just like my daughter’s teacher is loving and kind.  

So what about when we ask for something from God and He says NO or not now?    

Beth Moore is someone who has given me some great insight on who God is.  In her book, Whispers of Hope (Day 42), she writes the following:

In Matthew 20:20-28, the mother of James and John asks Jesus to have each of them sit beside him.  He responds to her, “you don’t know what you are asking.”  This was not a disrespectful woman.  She asked Jesus in great humility.  She was a dedicated mother who wanted the best for her sons.  But Jesus knew that if He granted her request, one of her boys would be sitting on God’s lap since Christ sits to the Father’s right.

One of the most compassionate things Jesus does for us is overrule a prayer request when we don’t know what we are asking.  He knew that a guarantee of grandeur would do nothing positive for James and John but a life of selfless servant-hood would guarantee them grandeur in the kingdom.

We want great things for those we love.  We want only the best for them but we sometimes don’t realize that what we are asking may not be best.

1 Peter 1:7 speaks to trials that “come so that your faith….may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Beth points out that more than anything she wants her girls’ lives to prove genuine and to honor God.  She is learning to pray that He simply be as gentle as possible as He continues working His glory in them.

"We must continue to learn what He values.  Then as we pray, allow Him to overrule when our requests for those we love would cheat them out of God’s best.”

Don’t be afraid to ask God for what you want.  Don’t be afraid that He is too busy for you.  Don’t think He has bigger fish to fry—He can do everything!  There are no limitations to His powers.

You are his child and he is full of love for you.  He wants what is best for you.  He wants to be “Your Everything. "