And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you;
…For every one that askes receives;
Luke 11:9-10
The Lord is generous.
He has expressed that it is His great joy to give us access to, and the fruits of, His kingdom (Luke 12:32). In Malachi 3:10-12, He states His inclination to open the windows of heaven and pour out blessing... So much that there isn't enough room to receive it. God gives with a selfless heart and we should ask with one.
In order to receive what we ask for, we must know what to ask for. Nobody would expect a sportscar from a vending machine; neither should we expect one from God. When we arrive at a source, with a request for a provision, we should be aware of the contents of its warehouse. If someone has a selfish request, born from a selfish motivation, to be used for a selfish intention, God is not the source to be asked.
To understand how God's system of ask-and-receive works, we must first ask, in earnest, for ears to hear, eyes to see, a heart to serve, and a mind to lead.
Ears to Hear"He that has ears to hear, let him hear." Matthew 11:15
It all begins with ears to hear. The first thing we must ask for is access to the word of God. People without ears to hear think Jesus' parables are, at best: fairytales, and at worse: nonsensical. Those with ears to hear, understand them as deep truths told in parables. Revelations about the world and truths about humanity, masked as simple advice.
We must delve beneath the superficiality of the world before we can understand what truly is a worthwhile request. But we cannot do that without ears to hear. If our ears are blocked to conversation with God and lectures from Jesus, our worldview is too self-centered and thereby, too limited, to ever ask for anything that would matter. We cannot transform ourselves, our family, our community, region or world with such a narrow scope. And is that not why we ask for things in the first place? To transform something or someone or some feeling into a different or better version?
This is the first and most intimate conversation anyone ever has with God: the first ask. The desire to understand, to know more, to want to believe. To be at the beginning, to crest the hill and see an ocean, to have the courage to step into it. It is the beginning of a lifelong relationship, a ceaseless conversation in heart and prayer, and journey to the heart of God. Ears to hear is figurative. The ear is the spirit awakening, realizing its distinction from the body, and pursuing its natural habitat: the kingdom of God.
With ears to hear, our instruction begins. Scripture transforms into a personal life-guide. A daily provision. A lifelong foundation. It adapts as we grow in wisdom; our dialog and counsel with God becomes wider and deeper, our ability to hear becomes more attuned to what we missed before. And then, we flourish.
Eyes to See
"Blessed are your eyes, for they see." Matthew 13:16
Next we ask for eyes to see. We need eyes to see the character of God; We understand who God is by what He loves and what He does. (This is how we should determine anyone's character). The first is quite simple: God loves His children. God's whole purpose, described in scripture from Adam to Jesus, Genesis to Revelation, is to gather, love and lead His children: humanity. And that is the answer to the second; what God does is heal, instruct, give, forgive, and save. Plus, He does so much more: God is the mastermind creator. He is the proliferator of life. He gives life and love in bold, broad, specific and precise ways.
If the biosphere itself were not miraculous enough, He has created a whole universe around it to host us. Are we worthy? God's generous heart decided that we are worthy. In that truth we see God even more, in this way as an entity full of mercy. From scripture we know that He is the established, incorruptible, unerring justice system.
When we see who God is, our faith proliferates. More clearly than ever are we able to view life from His vantage point.
Heart to ServeBut when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Matthew 9:36
God's vantage point is the peak of abject compassion. Not unmovable but moved, moved by compassion. It is the natural and necessary progression of faith to desire a heart to serve. No longer does life cease to exist beyond ourselves. Steadily, it becomes apparent that we cease to exist, in any meaningful way, if we do not live beyond ourselves.
We grow in faith so much that we cannot fit into our old mold. We are not ignorant to the plight of the people and in good conscience, we cannot neglect them. From our journey and relationship with God we are given a new heart, just as He promised:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
With our new heart, we cannot imagine asking for anything other than the ability and resource to assist the orphans and impoverished, the ensnared and endangered, the sorrowful and fearful persons of the world. It ceases to matter whether or not we will ever become great, and yet we become it: great in the service of God (Matthew 23:11). We cease worrying about what we need, and yet our needs are taken care of better than ever before, better under God's management (Matthew 6:33). When we are otherwise engaged, in the service of the kingdom, God takes care of us.
We ask then for a heart to serve, in order to: emulate Jesus, who healed the literal and figuratively sick, forgave the ignorant and repentant, and fed those hungry for bread and the word of God; to embody the good Samaritan, who bandaged the wounds of the unjustly attacked and tragically abandoned; to be even like the dog that tended to Lazarus rather than the like one who walked right by;...(Matthew 4:23; Matthew 14:19; Matthew 4:4, Luke 10:25-37, Luke16:19-21)
…And finally, to be like Solomon.
Mind to Discern
And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore. 1 Kings 4:29
The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night: Ask, what shall I give you? Solomon was poised to become king. He would succeed his father, king David, who, through faith and obedience to God, fought and led the people into a nation. Solomon was the beloved prince, precious to David (who was precious to God) and thus, likely, easily poised to become a spoiled king.
But the reverse was true: Solomon was humbled by his father's legacy, the responsibility of his role, and by the goodness and mercy of God. He understood himself as a servant of God, first and foremost, in the midst of a multitude. A multitude that needed a leader capable of compassion, judgment, and discernment. He could have asked for anything at all, anything for himself... instead, he asked for something he could give to others. He asked for those capabilities. The ones that would benefit God's people.
In doing so, he pleased the Lord. God specifically noted His pleasure in the fact that Solomon had not made a self-centered request. Solomon's ask was selfless but not without magnitude. He asked for many-lifetimes worth of wisdom. Justice. Objectivity. Discernment. The ability to lead a nation. God was able to grant it nonetheless. Ask and you will receive... if you ask for the right reasons. Solomon's selfless request was granted with abundance, and with the added bonus of everything he could have asked for but humbly chose not to.
Solomon went to sleep a man rich in faith and woke as a man rich in wisdom and much more. He rose from his bed, thanked the Lord then began to scaffold a nation with the resources he was given. Everything given to him by God he gave to the people. Subsequently, his example continues to teach us that whatsoever we ask for should be asked for with the intention of giving it all away. When asked in that manner, God surely opens the windows of heaven and from them overflow blessings inexhaustible.
To whom much is given, much is expected (Luke 12:48). God will freely give. There is no shortage; the system of ask and receive, without limits (Matthew 11:24), is intended to reach the people, without limits. Blessing is plentiful because the need is great. And since the laborers are few (Luke 10:2), more and more and more will come from God to the individual who asks, to the one committed to the work, the service of the kingdom via service to those in need.
Solomon's request managed to get to the crux of the purpose of the whole system of ask-and-receive. We are instruments of God; vessels through which His blessings flow into others. For we are God's fellow-workers (1 Corinthians 3:9). We are His ears, eyes, hearts, minds, hands here on the ground... if we ask to be.
If we ask, we will receive, and our joy will be complete (John 16:24).