Article April 30, 2012 Issue

Asking with the heart

Alex Cook

The Bible gives us unequivocal promises that God will give us what we ask for—if we ask! Matthew says, “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you” (7:7, Good News Translation). James adds, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God . . . and it will be given to him” (1:5, New International Version).

But haven’t we all had the experience of asking God for something and not receiving it? Over and over again the Bible counsels us to communicate with God not just with words, but with our whole heart. Asking, it turns out, has very little to do with words, or requests that we may present to God. It has everything to do with our lives—what we grow in our hearts.

An interesting experiment is to ask ourselves, “If the only way I could communicate my desires to God was with my life—no words—what would my life be asking for right now?” This is real asking. Put another way, the language God hears is not so much our words, as our lives. Our days, weeks, and months are the sentences we are speaking to God. What are they asking for? Are we asking God, divine Love, for things that She is likely to think are best for us?

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