Just. Ask.
25 I am laid low in the dust;
preserve my life according to your word.
26 I gave an account of my ways and you answered me;
teach me your decrees.
27 Cause me to understand the way of your precepts,
that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.
28 My soul is weary with sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
29 Keep me from deceitful ways;
be gracious to me and teach me your law.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I have set my heart on your laws.
31 I hold fast to your statutes, Lord;
do not let me be put to shame.
32 I run in the path of your commands,
for you have broadened my understanding.
33 Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
that I may follow it to the end.[b]
34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.[c]
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
In your righteousness preserve my life
(Psalm 119:25-40).
I normally study from ESV, but this morning I'm compelled to share with you a passage from Psalm 119 in the NIV Bible. I hear so often that people are afraid to ask God for things because they either feel too blessed already or they're just not willing. It's so clear to me in the Psalms and throughout the Bible, that we are called to seek Him. Ask.
So many times we put God in a box the size of our biggest problem. We forget that we are speaking to a God without limits. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him." Ask.
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11).
Ask.
In just this one short passage from the longest psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119, I found 14 requests that David made:
1) give me life;
2) make me understand;
3) strengthen me;
4) put false ways away from me;
5) let me not be put to shame;
6) enlarge my heart;
7) teach me;
8) give me understanding;
9) lead me;
10) incline my heart;
11) turn my eyes;
12) confirm to your servant;
13) turn away the reproach; and
14) give me life
Beautiful. Stop doubting. Just ask. Does He answer in exactly the way I anticipate? Rarely.
He wants to be invited into every area of our lives - from the menial to the major. The public and the hidden things. Do you understand that? Do you BELIEVE that?
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5:6-7).
I'll be praying for you to be be BOLD in your prayers. To be EXPECTANT in your prayers. And most of all to be CHANGED by your prayers. He's the potter and we are the clay. May your heart and mind be transformed by the asking.
God bless.