Just Aks.

Tuesday morning after retreat, it was so hard to get up after such a deep sleep. I wasn't sure whether I had to go to the church office that day. David told me to ask Ellen ayi before leaving just to make sure. But I didn't want to bother her in the morning with my question. So I showed up to work anyway and of course, no one was there. THEN i called and asked Ellen ayi, and it turns out not only did she communicate this to me on Thursday before the retreat, but she had sent out an email to the whole church! I let David have his "I told you so" moment. As I was driving back home, the question kept repeating in my head, "Why didn't I just ASK her?"

I believe God wonders the same question for us all the time. "Why don't you just ask me?" When I don't ask God, it's because I don't believe I will receive from Him, not because I think I'm bothering Him like my fear of bothering Ellen ayi. Well, sometimes yeah I do feel like I'm bothering Him, if I'm asking for small things that don't seem related to God at all - like, me getting out of bed in the morning. But THANK God that not only He knows us, but he makes all things known to us through His Spirit (John 16:13-15). And one aspect He lets us know about Him is that we can be assured that if we ask Him anything in Jesus' name, he will give to us. Why? Because when we ask from God, we demonstrate how much we really trust Him. I struggle with praying, with communicating with God, and I only ask and seem to pray when I'm already desperate.

For example as a new wife, I am learning how to be a helper to my husband - to help my husband be the man God wants him to be. But I have a dilemma: If I confront him about some things and tell Him to live in Christ, I might put pressure on him to change with higher expectations than can be handled at this point. But if I don't say anything and let things go, I might appear to be supportive or not caring at all. So out of desperation, I asked God: "What do I do?" What a comforter He is. He reminded me that there is a way to be proactive without being controlling and self-righteous. By praying for my husband CONSISTENTLY (keyword), I'm letting God do his thing within him so in the end, God gets all the credit, not me. In the end, I can say that God changed him as He has already changed him so far. What I cannot do, God can. But until now, I didn't ask God about this matter at all! So before I can pray for David to truly trust in God, I need to trust God myself.

Far much more than mass murder, the world's greatest sin is refusing to believe in Jesus (John 16:8-9), and our only righteousness is by faith in Jesus. Romans 1:17: "For in the gospel a righteousness in God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'" Our faith is changing all the time, it's dynamic, so we need to get to the point of always trusting in Jesus. Watch out for self-sufficiency. Lately, I've been getting into reading, especially in regards to youth ministry and spiritual leadership. I have to be careful that by gaining more knowledge in these matters, by gaining knowledge about counseling youth through my grad school, that I don't drop my need for God. All of this knowledge added up doesn't compare to what I can receive from God by simply asking Him: "How do you want us to be faithful shepherds to your flock?"

When Jesus was telling his disciples all these things about him having to leave the world, they couldn't understand at first. He said that none of them even asked about it at first (John 16:5), but later they wanted to ask him (John 16:17-18) when they were all confused. And when they finally asked, Jesus didn't add anything more to what he had already been saying, but somehow he opened them up to finally understand Him and believe. What a miracle! Jesus didn't change anything on the outside after they asked, he only changed them from within. Prayer really does open our eyes to see His work, even though the external circumstances appear the same.

Jesus says, we can DIRECTLY ask God, without Jesus having to ask the Father for us. "In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God" (John 16:26-27). We can boldly and confidently come before God the Father himself because we know how the Father really feels about us. He isn't full of wrath towards us anymore, but because of Jesus His love is so ready to give what we ask in Jesus name to bring glory to Himself! (John 15:8).

But remember this before asking our Abba: God loves us because we love Jesus and loving Jesus means obeying His commands (John 14:21,23). We remain in God's love when we obey Him (John 15:10). So we can only ask and expect to receive when we obey His commands (John 15:7). And when we obey God and receive from Him what we ask, we'll experience joy that no one can take away (John 15:11, 16:22, 24). "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete." So on a scale of 1-10 on our life satisfaction levels, we should ALL be at a "Cheng-10" and beyond because the joy Jesus gives us is beyond the temporary happiness this world gives. No situation in our lives should ever be too much to take that joy away. Can we reflect that joy in our lives? We do when we stop complaining and thank God for everything that's right, and the only thing right is in Jesus Christ.

Last note: We always end our prayers with "In Jesus name I pray. Amen." When David and I first started praying together back in the college days, I would just end my prayers with a straight cut-to-the-chase "Amen." David taught me to add "In Jesus' name I pray" before saying "Amen." I had no idea why back then and was like "sure okay.....(those Christians)." Now we say this all the time that it becomes so automatic. But this part should be the climax of our prayer because Jesus is "the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [Him]" (John 14:6). We need to remember that it's only possible for us to talk to God face-to-face because Jesus made the way. He IS the way. Oh how I wish we didn't have the "nose-goes" attitude to talk to God directly. Let us remember that when we pray - Jesus made it possible to speak directly to God and hear directly from God Himself. That was unheard of, until Jesus came.

So in the name of Jesus, to the glory of God, what will you ask Him today???