Do you remember what Jesus said to His disciples, “And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive” (Matt. 21.22)? That takes faith!

I have a preacher friend who backed his little red convertible out of the driveway and proceeded down the street. About a block from the house the engine died. Even with his admittedly limited knowledge in the field of mechanics, he managed to determine that he had a bad fuel pump. He removed the pump and proceeded to the nearest auto parts store. Bear in mind that this was a fourteen-year-old car that was not really that popular, almost a rarity you might say. Also, he was in a tiny town on the Canadian border, away from any big cities.

Nevertheless, with all odds against him, he walked into the auto parts store and placed the pump on the counter and boldly told the man behind the counter, “I need a fuel pump,” knowing all the while that he would not have it in stock and would have to order it, and that it would probably take weeks to get it. His response was, “Just a minute.” And sure enough, in just a minute he returned and slapped a fuel pump down on the counter and said, “There you are!” What a surprise that the store would have that part for a fourteen-year-old Corvair! Jesus also said, “O you of little faith” (Matt. 8.26).

How about life in general? How much do we miss out on, spiritually, because of a weak faith? Or because we fail to ask? Or lack the proper motives?

Jesus challenged in the Sermon on the Mount, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Matt. 7.7). James tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally and without reproach” (James 1.5). Do we believe these promises?

James further instructs us, “You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4.2-3). How many of God’s blessings do we miss out on because we do not ask? But remember: 1) we must ask, 2) we must ask with the right motive, 3) we must ask in faith, and 4) we must ask according to God’s will. We might not always get what we think we should receive, but usually we will get more than what we deserve! [-Adapted, BTW]