"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
Matthew 7:7-8
If there's one thing Jesus told us over and over again to do, it's to ask. Many people find it hard to ask and still others keep asking and asking but without a proper understanding of why we ask. In both circumstances, we face a misunderstanding that can make us miss out on the power of asking Jesus for provision, protection and purpose.
God is a loving and gracious God who desires to meet all our needs. To say that He is generous does not even come close to defining His character as a Father to us all. The Bible refers to our God as a Heavenly Father who endlessly lavishes His grace upon us because He has considered us to be His sons and daughters.
But just as God has called us His sons and daughters, we don't consider Him to be a Father. There are two misconceptions that block our view of God as our Heavenly Father. First, is we often view Him as a vending machine more than a Father, and second, we treat Him like an angry boss more than a Father.
Both perceptions of God fall short - we fail to see the basis of the power of our asking because in both circumstances, the power of the asking lies in us, not in God.
When we find it hard to ask from God, it's usually because we feel we don't have the right to ask God for anything because we haven't earned His favour, but God tells us in His word that He has considered us sons and daughters not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done. He exchanged our illegitimacy with His legitimacy.
On the other hand, when we ask and ask from God as if He were a genie that would just grant our requests, we think that the basis of the power of our ask is based on our ability. Because it's about me, my rights, my needs, my blessings. in this scenario, one has to wonder who's the God in the relationship.
What the Bible does tell us though is that the power of the ask is never with us and our faithfulness but with Jesus and His faithfulness. When we shift the focus out of us and our own needs, we see God's power move intensely. John 14:13-14 says, "Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." John 15:7 adds to that saying, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."
Our ask has power not because of who we are, how special we are or how good we are, but because of the finished work of Christ and His goodness in our life.
