Ask

Request

There is an important distinction between asking and demanding. Sometimes this difference is seen not just in the words but in the tone that is being used. Many different dynamics come into the equation when a question is being asked. If it is an information gathering question then the variables are usually limited to does the person being asked have the information and do they want to divulge the information. Of course all kinds of moral questions can arise at this point dealing with the responsibility of different people to answer questions and even when it is ok to not answer or even purposely mislead the questioner. 

But in this post I want to consider the types of requests that are for help of some kind. This could include asking for some commodity, service, or time commitment. In any of these cases how should we think of both being asked and asking? Does the Bible give us clear instructions about these practical matters?

Help

In James 2, we are told that it is a basic reality that people who truly trust in Christ and have the new heart of life from the new covenant in Christ will not neglect the needs of those around them. Real faith necessarily produces good works! Saving faith is always active faith compelling the believer to mercy, grace, and compassion because they have been the recipient of so much mercy, grace, and compassion. Our actions do not make our faith a reality but they do demonstrate that our faith is a reality.

Also in Luke 10, the Lord Jesus uses the story of a Samaritan man coming to the aid of a man who had been robbed, beaten, and left for dead. The point of the story was to show that regardless of class, status, race, or any other mark of distinction those who truly love God will love people. All people! The Samaritan didn’t belong to the people group usually associated with genuine faith, but his faith was proved through what it produced in his life and actions.

Please

When the Lord Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray in Luke 11, not long after the parable of the Samaritan, He gave them a lesson in how we as believers should come to God asking for good gifts. In the passages that we have discussed above we have been thinking about how our faith should affect the way we respond to needs and requests. But now we need to understand how real faith causes us to ask God for things. 

God does not desire for us to come to Him expecting to be rejected. He wants us to come boldly to His gracious throne (Hebrews 4:16), because He is eager to give us good gifts. All good gifts come from Him and He loves to give them (James 1:17). Because it is in the heart and nature of God’s character to give us these good gifts, we should come happily to ask for the right things. However, this does not mean that God is going to just hand over every gluttonous request because He only gives us good gifts and so He will not do anything that is going to ultimately not be a good and righteous gift.

In the text mentioned above in Luke 11, Jesus encourages us to ask and keep asking because the one who asks receives. Since it is a truth taught by Jesus and a promise given by our Lord, what is it that you have been asking for? Is it possible that the vitality and hope and life and revival that we all say we want is only being held back by the fact that we aren’t asking for it? The point that Jesus is making in the text is that faithfully asking for these good gifts in the person of the Holy Spirit is persistent asking. This means that we ask and keep asking because we know our Father and we know He answers our prayers!

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