ASK is such a funny word, such a small word and yet full of meaning and power, particularly when it comes to connection and communication, and so it’s no surprise that Jesus had quite a bit to say about asking.
Jesus said “I tell you, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ASK in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ASK me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14. “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ASK whatever you wish and it will be given. This is to my Father’s glory, that you will bear much fruit.” John 15:7,8.
When I was a child there was still the perceived wisdom that it was not good manners to keep on ‘asking’ for things. Things should be offered, and then received with gratitude, even if the thing was not really what you wanted. There was thought to be something a bit demanding about a child, or even an adult, who was always ‘asking’ for something. Even today as adults we sometimes find ourselves in a position where we are reluctant to ‘ask’ for something in case we put someone in the position of having to say no, which would be uncomfortable for them and for us.
Well it would seem that our heavenly Father doesn’t feel like that at all. Jesus even told us to “ASK and keep on asking and it shall be given to you” and that the Father was more than willing to “give the Holy Spirit to those who “ASK, and continue to ASK Him” Luke 11:9,22. AMP. (The present imperative used here implies continuing or repeated action). So we have our Heavenly Fathers permission, even encouragement, to come with our requests, and to be persistent with our asking.
This morning I was thinking about ‘wisdom’, and that wisdom is another powerful weapon in our armoury. David had the Lord’s wisdom when he refused to fight in Saul’s armour. 1 Samuel 17:39. Joshua too, many times had wisdom from God; most notably when he led the Israelites to march around Jericho once for six days, and then seven times on the seventh day, blowing the trumpets. They just couldn’t have known for sure what effect their shouting would have on those walls until it happened. Joshua 6:3-5.
Then there is Jehoshaphat’s famous statement that we wrote about two days ago, “For we have no power to face this great army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do but our eyes are upon you”, 2 Chronicles 20:12. We can see that they received the Lord’s wisdom and sent out the singers and worshippers in front of the army. ‘Wisdom’ is in fact something that we are definitely encouraged to ASK for, especially if we feel we are lacking it. James tells us that we should ‘ASK God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he ASKS, he must believe and not doubt…….’ James 1:5,6.
So as you travel through the day today, don’t be afraid to ask for the wisdom that you need to face the various challenges that you will encounter. These might be longstanding situations, for which you have been asking for help, or an unexpected situation that has suddenly arisen. We can ASK, as James encourages us to do, ‘without doubt’ because we know that it is completely, one hundred percent, on the Fathers heart to give us His wisdom. His wisdom will enable us to ‘bear much fruit’, showing ourselves to be Jesus disciples and, as we will be asking ‘in Jesus name’, it will also be ‘to the Fathers glory’, John 15:8.
Finally, a great way to ensure that you are asking ‘without doubt’ for the wisdom that you need is to, ‘by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God’. Philippians 4:6. It is so easy to ask God for wisdom and then find yourself still puzzling and fretting your way through a problem. A relaxed ‘thank you’, after you have asked, places you in a good place of readiness to receive that wisdom from above, that is ‘pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.’ James 3:17. God’s wisdom may also be, quite possibly, totally left field from your natural thought patterns, so be ready!
