Ask Not, Have Not

Sometimes I wonder if God looks at me from His throne and shakes His head in frustration and disappointment and even sadness. I say this because, especially of late, I've been living as a pauper when in reality I am a princess. I am a daughter of The King of Kings. My Daddy owns everything, and yet do I ask Him for what I need? or do I sit around and moan and complain and worry about my problems and concerns. Do I stop and remember, "Hey, my Heavenly Father has it all. He can take care of this!" or do I focus on what I lack? (In case there is any doubt, I do the latter!)

While the book of James addresses our motivation in our requests, it also says we don't have because we don't ask (James 4:2). Duh! :) I wonder if that is what God says. Or, as my friend Barb Hendrickson says in a saracastic tone, "Hel-LO!" The Gospels talk about not being afraid to ask for what we need. It says something like "Who would give his son a snake if he asked for a fish?" (Matthew 7:10) The same passage says, bascially: ASK! Not only that, but you will receive. I got to thinking about this from another perspective. Knowing how big and powerful and wealthy our God is, why would we ask Him for so little? It's like a Middle Eastern oil tycoon's daughter asking for a lowly camel for transportation when she could ask her father for a Bugatti or three. As infathomably wealthy as some people in the world are, my Daddy is even richer, yet I ask Him for a camel, if I even ask at all. Paul assures us in Philippians 4:19 that "this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been supplied to us in Christ Jesus." Note he says "from His glorious riches." He'll never run out or go broke! No worries, mate, as my Australian friends might say. And Paul also asserts that God "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine" (Eph. 3:20, emphasis mine). Immeasurably! We can't top God. There is nothing too big to ask, for He is bigger. Paul goes on to say He does this "according to His power that is at work within us." Whoa! Did you catch that? That power that allows God to provide us with more than we could ever dream is working in us! Friends, that's heavy. That power raised Christ from the dead. How much more can it raise our finances, our health, our relationships, or whatever we need life breathed into? If we'd only ask.

During my morning routine, I was listening to Steven Curtis Chapman's Speechless CD. I love the words from "Great Expectations: "Believe the unbelievable, receive the inconceivable, and see beyond my wildest imagination. Lord, I come with great expectations." In the song he sings about a huge banquet we've been invited to as sons and daughters. Our lack of asking God for our needs and of realizing all we have in Him is like a starving homeless man who's been invited into a feast and, instead of pulling up to a table and enjoying the richest of fare, he goes digging through the trash. This also reminds me of another SCC song, "See the Glory." Why would someone do such a thing when such richness is before us? "It's like playing Game Boy in the middle of the Grand Canyon, like eating candy sitting at a gourmet feast, like wading in the pond when I could be swimming in the ocean. Tell me, what's the deal with me?"

Friends, we need to stop living as the prodigal son. It's time to lift our heads from the pig trough and stop eating slop. It's time to realize, "Hey. Why am I wallowing in here and eating like a pauper when my father has everything and then some? Time to go home." Yes, it's time to go Home. Go to your Daddy. He'll meet you more than halfway. Don't be afraid to ask Him for anything. Don't be afraid to dream big. Nothing is too big for our God.