One of the first dates my husband and I had was at an ASK! pizza restaurant. They always had gerberas on the table – still one of my favourite flowers! It’s an interesting name for a restaurant – one that led to great confusion the first time I heard about it. I asked my boss if he could recommend somewhere for us to eat and he said, “well ASK! is always good”, but we were in a big crowd of people and I only heard the words ‘always’, ‘good’ and ‘ask’ and thought – yes – that’s what I am doing! Anyway we got there eventually.

Asking is good.

Ask yourself…
“What will please the Lord today?”
Ask him for it. What is
Needed for God’s glory and your highest joy today will be given to you.
Those who fear God need not fear want.

Weep and wait and worship
Ask all that is on your heart, while also asking:
Not my will, but yours be done.
Take heart for the Lord is near.

I’ve been trying to think of where we are directly commanded to ASK!

I’ve come up with…

• Matthew 9:38: workers for the harvest field.
• Matthew 7:7, 8: Ask and you will receive, linked with the asking of good gifts and for the Holy Spirit.
• Matthew 6: 9-13: Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, the gift of daily bread, keep us from temptation, deliverance from evil.
• John 14:12-14
  • ¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³ And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
  • I think the emphasis here is the disciples dismay at being left to do the work on their own without Jesus. But they will do great things because they have only to ask!
• James 4:1-3
  • What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
  • Sometimes we just don’t ask. And when we do… so much of our asking comes out of our friendship with the world – see following verses.

Do let me what others you can think of… 

And finally – not a command, but a wonderfully reassuring and realigning prayer:

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.  

Ephesians 3:20, 21

AMEN!