Why don't you ask?

I'm not even sure how to start this post.....it all started this morning as I was getting ready for work. The house was completely quiet and I could actually think, a rare occurrence when you have kids. I began to think about some of the things I would like to do in life. You know what I'm talking about...those dreams again. The "if money wasn't a problem and you knew you couldn't fail, what would you do in life" kind of thoughts. That's when the question came to mind...."why haven't you asked?"

Do you ever have those moments of realization that sort of leave you dumbfounded? This was one of those moments. I don't think up to that point I realized I hadn't asked. I was "believing for it..." but I'm not sure I'd ever asked. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I was even clear on what I wanted to ask.

Why hadn't I asked? Good question. Let's see, there's fear. Fear that perhaps what I want is far beyond me. Fear that I actually might get what I'm asking for! Fear of the responsibility that comes with the answered prayer. Fear that I don't really know what I want or that maybe I ask for the wrong reasons. Yep, fear is probably why I haven't asked. But today, a friend posted a facebook status that seems to go with this line of thought...."Faith can move mountains, fear builds them."

I don't know if this blog is just for me, or if there are others out there who have dreams that they haven't had the courage to ask God for, but it seems like every where I turned today, I heard that same question...."why haven't you asked?" In Matthew 7, it says: 7-11"Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn't a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we're in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better? "

Maybe you haven't asked because of pride...that same kind of "I'll do it myself, I'm not lost, I know exactly where I'm going, I'll figure it out on my own" kind of pride that keeps some men from stopping to ask for directions. I'm just going to leave that one for you to make your own analogies.

Maybe you're not asking because you feel unworthy...you're right. You aren't worthy. None of us is worthy of answered prayer...but that's beside the point. God doesn't answer because we are worthy...He answers out of love. Isaiah said "Woe is me, I am a man of unclean lips...." and in response, God cleansed him and then called him to go out. (Isaiah 6) It's not about whether we have done something, it's about what God has already done.

Maybe you, like me, are afraid of the responsibility that goes along with what you are asking for. Gideon could relate. When God called him, his response was pretty much, are you sure you got the right guy? "Me, my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan's the weakest in Manasseh and I'm the runt of the litter." Yet God used Gideon, even with all his doubts and fears.

I saw a church sign the other day that bothered me. It said, "Faith moves the hand of God." I think I understand what they were trying to say, but that struck me as saying that somehow a person could make God do something. I think perhaps a better phrase might have been "faith touches the heart of God." He is looking for someone who has the faith to ask....

So how about it. What are you believing God for? Have you asked? Even if the answer is "no", you can know it pleases our Father that we asked. Asking opens the door for direction that we may know His will for our lives, and that's what what we're really looking for.