Boldness In Asking Equals Blessing

I watched him as he went from person to person in the Food Court asking for spare change "to buy some food." He wasn't having any success and so he came over to where I was standing in line, and in broken English, asked the people serving for something to eat. Husband and wife looked at each other, before the wife took up a plate and prepared a small serving. Before she could hand it to him, he asked, "More, please?"

Those in line chuckled at the man's boldness, but as soon as he spoke, the words from James 4:2b sprung to life in my mind, "Ye have not, because ye ask not." Right before me was someone who had asked not only for what he needed, but confidently asked for the amount that he felt would satisfy his hunger. He needed food, and a small amount was not going to do. As I watched the events unfold, the lady smiled, doubled the portions on the plate, and this time he took it without hesitation, said his thanks, before walking off to find a seat to have his meal.

The thought occurred to me that his request matched the severity of his need. In a spiritual sense, how many Christians fall short in that regard? From the old hymn we recall the words, "Oh what peace we often forfeit / Oh, what needless pain we bear / All because we do not carry / Ev'rything to God in prayer!", a striking indictment on the believer's inability to recognize and appreciate that the severity of our needs will never exhaust the resources of God. The writer to the Hebrews encourages us to come boldly unto the throne of grace (4:16); there we find Him of whom it is written, He "calleth those things which be not as though they were" (Romans 4:17). It really doesn't matter the needs, or the severity of those needs, God is more than able to meet them. I believe this was what Peter had in mind when he wrote, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7). There is no justifiable reason to keep some of our cares (worries, anxieties, doubts, fears, needs) to ourselves; we are to cast them ALL upon Him.

Knowing God's inexhaustible supply, Jesus encouraged His disciples to "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened" (Matthew 7:7,8). No limits, no restrictions; just the assurance that the things that conform to the will of God for our lives are ours through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). With that in mind, let us not be afraid to ask for what we need. We serve a God who specializes in meeting every need, even the ones that seem impossible.