I wonder how much we miss out on when it comes to pure JOY, fulfillment, and true contentment in life because we refuse to ask God about things? When is the last time that you just sat before the LORD in prayer and just gave Him all the burdens you’re carrying, decisions looming over you, or relationships that you know in your heart could be better?…and get this next part…When is the last time you did that, AND THEN WAITED FOR HIS ANSWER? If the answer isn’t, “This morning!” Then, I’d love to challenge you today to change that. Let me give you some scripture for reference.
Yeshua (Jesus) Himself said, 7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.8 Foreveryone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
Then, there’s this really important warning from the Book of James (his real name in Hebrew is Ya’akov, he was Yeshua’s brother; so when King James commissioned the Bible to be translated into English, he promptly gave Ya’akov his own name, “James.” Yeshua wasn’t walking around in the 1st century calling his brother “James” is my point) 😉 But, he warns us that “asking” doesn’t just give us license for selfish gain, it gives us invitation for God’s glory.
Listen to how Ya’akov (James) warns us;
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions[a] are at war within you?[b] 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 You adulterous people![c] 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.5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:1-10
It is always, always, always our best option to humble ourselves before God. I would submit to you that true humility means that we do what Yeshua (Jesus) instructed us to do, which is to ask Him, seek for Him, knock and expect that the door will be opened, because that’s what He says! He holds the answers to the questions we have; He holds the healing from the hurts we’ve suffered; and He holds the solutions to the problems we face. Our assignment is to come to him with humble hearts, willing to hear what He has to say.