You do not have because you do not ask God.
James 4:2b NIV
The Story:
It was my first trimester of my pregnancy and I was going to do this pregnancy right! I was going to eat a very healthy diet full of all the nutritional elements a baby needs to grow a healthy brain, muscles, and body, I would give this child every fighting chance it could get! It was a challenge, especially during the fatigue of the first trimester but I was committed. Which is exactly how I came to find myself standing inside a Little Caesars, trying to quickly grab a pizza before I could go home and crash on the couch.
My turn came and I ordered my pizza and, “Breadsticks too, if you have them?” The cashier told me it would be a 15/20 minute wait for breadsticks. “Oh that’s ok then, I’ll just do the pizza please.”
As I said those words another employee stuck his head out from the back and said, “We have the cheesy breadsticks ready. You ever tried them? They’re really good! They have our garlic butter sauce poured over them, then a bunch of cheese melted all over them.”
I should probably mention at this point that not only was I priding myself on a healthy diet, I was also priding myself on not being an easy sell. We have a budget. We plan our spending and if it’s not in the budget then sorry- it doesn’t happen. Given that we stick to a budget, I am not easily susceptible to impulse purchases. I have self control- or so I tell myself. My husband is in the sales industry- it’s like he wants to be sold! Someone starts talking about a really great offer and he starts thinking about it- especially if they are using their sales skills really well. Not me, nope. Try someone else!
All of this is precisely why as the words describing the cheesy, goey, garlic smeared breadsticks were barely out of this guy’s mouth I quickly said, “Ok sounds great- an order of cheesy breadsticks too please!” the employee chuckled and pointed to the cashier saying, “See that! That’s how you upsell!” before tossing the box of breadsticks on the counter and walking back around the corner. I laughed, I knew I had been a really easy upsell! But do you know how many people never ask for the sale? There’s a saying in the sales industry, “You miss 100% of the sales you don’t ask for.” It’s easy whenever you are trying to make a sale to lay out everything before the prospective buyer and think that by doing so, you have asked for the sale- but you haven’t! You have to actually ask, “Ready to move forward?”
The Lesson I Learned
The reason I am lecturing about basic sales techniques, when all you thought you were getting is an uplifting post while you drink your morning coffee, is because this same principle applies to our prayer life too.
God wants us to bring our requests and petitions before Him. Not to just ask Him something once and then move on, but to pursue Him. In fact there are multiple different instances in the bible where because someone pleaded with God, God changed His mind. In Exodus 32 God was ready to wipe out the Israelites, but Moses pleaded with God and God spared them.
What have you been wanting to happen in your life that you haven’t been asking about? In Luke 11:9, Jesus tells us , “As and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (NIV) The word for ask originally was a word that meant keep on asking, keep on asking, and it will be given to you.
Conclusion
I am not a heath, wealth, and prosperity evangelist- it doesn’t work like that. Sometimes the answer will still be no. Sometimes the answer will be silence. The bible says in James 4 the Bible says,”You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” you have not because you ask not. When we come before God humbly, petitioning Him with desire that He has placed on our heart it pleases Him. He wants us to ask. What desire God placed on your heart? If He gave you the desire- don’t you think He wants to give it to you?
Remember that sales principle, You miss 100% of the asks you never make? Sometimes I wonder how many blessings we miss out on because of the requests we never truly make of God.
Disclosure
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