Ask and you shall receive

If you don't ask, you won't receive, a photo by bobmendo on Flickr.

Yesterday I was driving with my neighbour on an errand to inner city Sydney. Out of the blue she quoted this Bible idea that if you don't ask, you won't receive. Biblical formation aside, it was fascinating to hear her share this bit of truth as we rode along. She has made it in an industry (hair salon) where the competition is fierce and she is only a young woman. I'm pleased to count her a friend, and proud of her at the same time.

Still the quote, from Y'shua, "ask and you shall receive" is ringing in my ears today. And, if we don't ask, we won't receive. That's so obvious, isn't it? God wants us to ask Him for blessings, for help, for life considerations. And like a good father, He loves to pour out such on us.

So, the question is begged, why don't all our askings result in such benefits? James, the half-brother of Y'shua, asked that same question in the First Century. First his concern was for wisdom. I told a Jewish woman last week in Wichita, a lovely lady I met at a Bat Mitzvah, that Hashem would send her wisdom if she asked.

James said this, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (Chapter 1.5-8)

OK< a bit of a caveat is there.

But that's not all he says on the matter. Later on in his very short letter, James says, "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." (chapter 4.1-3)

So asking is not the only consideration, is it? BUT that said, without asking you won't receive. So ask God today. Ask Him to help you in your life. Ask Him for wisdom. Ask Him for help in your circumstances, your family, your hopes and dreams. And be honest about your heart. Lay it before God also, with all your demands and expectations. Let Him change you from the inside. He loves you and wants you to share in that life with Him today.

Nu? Ask already.