Learning to ask

It had been close to a month without the female toilets near us having seat sanitizers. I saw and greeted the cleaning lady more than twice a day. I thought of asking her when we would get or why we didn’t have sanitizers. But I figured she could see and I figured someone else would pick up on it and we would have. Days turned into weeks until I couldn’t stand it anymore. As I went out of a cubicle, the cleaning lady was cleaning the mirrors and I asked her if she knew when we would have sanitizers. She seemed not to be aware of the fact that we were out but did say she didn’t know where the key to unlock was and that she thought one of them was broken.

Not knowing how to answer, I thanked her, washed my hands and left. To my very very pleasant surprise, two days later, all the toilets had sanitizers. Happy? You bet I was.

This morning, I was in the toilet and it clicked to me how we might have probably gone more weeks or months without sanitizers had I not asked. My husband likes to remind me of James 4:2, especially the part that says ‘You have not because you ask not’. How many people were using those toilets, needing sanitizers and not asking or assuming that someone will realise and automatically put them?

It got me thinking, all the things that I want, do I go to God first for them? Do I ask God to give me all my wants and needs or do I try to do it on my own? How much time, energy, tears have I wasted by doing that?

The bible tells us that we need to Ask from God and He will give us. It is full of similar promises that God promises to us. All we need to do is stop running around frantically, come to His feet, tell Him what we need, what we want and wait and watch patiently as he awes us. Yes, sometimes we will not get what we want. Simply because He knows us more than we know ourselves, but His message is very clear… Ask and you will receive. Ask wholly and believing that He hears and He will give you. Do not ask as you are working on plan B. Otherwise you are going to miss the greatness of what God has in store for you.

I realise that I do not ask as much as I should from God. Probably because I forget that God is interested in my life. I forget that He has numbered the very hairs on my head. I forget that He never sleeps, that He is always waiting to hear from me, about everything. All I need to do is come to Him each and everyday and tell Him what is in my heart. Tell Him my worries, my fears, my joys, my happiness, my dreams, my aspirations. I need to learn to ask from God and I know I am not the only one who needs to come to God daily and ask. Not just when times are tough and we find ourselves in a pickle, but all the time. We need to learn to talk to God, learn to ask and communicate to Him so that even when times are tough, we are not found stranded far from God.

Dear friends, Ask and you will receive.