Just Ask

James 4:2-3, “… You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

Every feel like life is out of control? Do you feel like your health, finances, relationships, family, work, or all of the above are out of control? Have you asked God to do something about it?

This is of course a rhetorical questioned seasoned with sarcasm. Who has any aspect of life out of control and doesn’t ask God to do something about it? I laugh when people see my situation and insinuate there is another prayer I could pray, or some level of faith I have yet to obtain. It cracks me up to hear people and minsters focus on the “blessings” of God all the while ignoring the shared sufferings of Christ and the tribulations of the world. (1 Peter 4:13, John 16:33)

Herein lies the problem. When life, or any aspect of it is out of control it is because we are trying to control it in the first place. We want pleasure. We want peace. We want eternal euphoria, but what does God want? He wants us conformed to the image of Christ. (Romans 8:29) We ask for control, but God is in control. We ask for a different life, and God is asking what is wrong with the one He gave us? We ask for it to be easier, when God knows just exactly how to increase our faith, love and relationship with Him.

Don’t get me wrong. I am very guilty of not asking enough. I am guilty of sometimes chalking too much up to God and destiny and whim and life while not seeking if God would have me ask to change it. Yet at the same time I know that asking is as much about asking for a process as it is asking for a result.

I ask for God to reveal Himself to me… expecting some Moses like visitation. Instead He chooses the most uncomfortable of circumstances, and necessitates faith that it was in fact Him in the circumstance. I ask for freedom for debt… expecting to win the lottery. Instead He chooses to cause me to live under a budget taking years to undo only a few moments of spending on my own pleasure.

Oh asking is very important. God demands that we ask. It helps to keep the relationship in perspective. But sometimes, if not most of the time the answer is not in the ultimate outcome, but in the process to get there.

Here are the words of Oswald Chambers on the subject. His commentary is in relationship to Matthew 7:11 where Jesus said, “… how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! To that Oswald says, “Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control (not ours) over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.”

He goes on to say, “Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, ‘My heavenly Father knows all about this!’ This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle: God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that He will forget, so why should I worry?”

So we must ask, but we must trust God to shape and deliver the best answer. When life is out of control, it is because we have tried to wrestle it from His hands. Ask Him to take control, and hang on for the ride. Because the ride IS the answer.