Why Not Ask?
Each year my girls put together a Christmas wish list. They clip it on the front of the fridge. The other morning as I was reading through Ainsley’s wish list over my morning cup of coffee, it occurred to me that every year without fail she writes on her list a horse, a real horse.
Now for those who know this girl, this should come as no surprise!!! But the thing which struck me that morning was that even though each year we tell her not now or maybe when you are older and more responsible, she has never given up hope of asking for the biggest thing her heart desires, a real live horse! It made me think about those big, seemingly unattainable things that we stop asking God for as the years go by. Those things which He has not said “yes to or not right now to”. I must make a quick disclaimer here; I am referring to asking God for things which line up with His will for our lives.
Psalm 62:8 Trust (confidently) in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us. Selah.
God tells us to pour out our hearts before Him. This requires us to be vulnerable. For many, myself included, this is challenging because it means that we need to share not only the deepest sins or our lives but also the deepest desires of our hearts.
We are fileted open wide in front of an all-knowing all-powerful God. We cannot forget that God is a refuge for us (a safe place and shelter). Taking things to God through an active life of prayer builds our trust and confidence in Him and is ultimately the safest place we can go with our deepest desires.
Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
There are other times in our lives in which we don’t ask God for things because we fear that He will say no or not right now. This could easily lead to disappointment without the understanding of the plans of the Lord. Only God can see the big picture and all that is happening. He is in control and knows when the right timing is.
I remember when we were trying to get pregnant with Ainsley. It had been a long 2 years of waiting for God to move, fearful that He might not ever give us what we had been praying. I remember getting the point of telling God, even if you don’t ever give me a child I will still love and serve you all the days of my life. Now looking back to this time, I see God’s hand, building up my faith in Him. What if that disappointment led to walking away from the Lord? I wonder what might be if we had given up asking because we were afraid of no or not right now.
Psalm 130:5-6 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word, I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.
In other seasons, I have been reluctant to ask God for the biggest desires of my heart because I didn’t feel I had any right to ask God for anything else. The Lord has blessed my life in so many ways that I feel guilty asking for anything more. But this is NOT what the word of the Lord tells us. The Lord says, ask and it will be given to you; in all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive; in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God; whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them; if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
NONE of these verses state, don’t ask for anything else because you have enough, they don’t say don’t ask because you are afraid of the no or not yet, and lastly don’t ask because you have to be vulnerable with the Lord. On the contrary, God says pray, ask and believe according to His will and in due time He will give you the desires of your heart.
And now every year as I read my girls Christmas wish list, I will cherish it even more as a reminder to not stop asking the Lord for the big desires of my heart.
~Jenn
#EverythingUnderTheSon