Who is God? “Ask” Advocate, Desires Petition over Presumption

Everyone looked up from their books when Mark, the most popular (and handsome) boy in my 6th-grade class, rose from his seat during quiet reading time. The thick silence broke as the soles of Mark’s sneakers padded against the cold and tan linoleum floor. The teacher said nothing as we all wondered, What’s he doing? As he grabbed two tissues from the Kleenex box, everyone, including me, dismissed the ok-nothing-to-see-here distraction and returned to reading. But Mark didn’t go back to his seat. He stopped in front of mine. I’m sure my “deer-in-the-headlight” expression hurried him along in his mission. Mark flashed his dimpled grin that made all us girls swoon and said, “I think you need these.” The color of my face transformed in a nanosecond from pasty white to blazing red. The class couldn’t suppress a hearty round of giggles and snickers. Unfortunately, I knew exactly what he’d meant.

Since I constantly struggled with a drippy nose as a child, I didn’t notice when I began “super sniffing” – sniff, pause, sniff, pause, sniff, pause, sniff…over and over until I finally realized what I was doing. Poor Mark had had enough. My mom did her best, taking me to the “big city” allergy doctor, where I tried all sorts of treatments. Various tests searched for sensitivity to a myriad of foes such as oak trees, maple trees, birch trees, mold, pollen, dust, dogs, cats, grass, eggs, peanuts, and even chocolate. Mom faithfully drove me to the local clinic once a week for allergy shots. I had good days and bad days, but my leaky nose continued to defy all medical intervention as well as logic, plaguing me through middle school, high school, college, and beyond.

A Trail of 220,000 Tissues

I’ll never forget the moment everything changed. I was sitting alone on the floor of my walk-in closet (my quiet-time space where I studied my Bible and prayed). My alarm had woken me early in the morning. I quietly shuffled books and papers around me to settle in, careful not to wake my still sleeping husband. Then it happened - my eyes watered and the invisible faucet lever to my nose shifted to the “full-blast” position. Anger welled up within me. Oh come on! I’m nearly 30 years old, and THIS BLASTED RUNNY NOSE is still driving me insane! I reached for my sidekick, Mr. Puff’s Plus (with Aloe!). This is ridiculous. I sighed. Frustrated and depleted of all hope other than divine intervention, my heart cried out to the Lord in a bold new faith:

OK God - Why do I constantly battle a runny nose? You DO know, and I believe You will reveal it to me right now.

I closed my eyes and waited. I expected an answer. Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit. The details aren’t necessary – what happened is God plainly revealed the answer (not in an audible voice, but I saw a word in my mind). I hadn’t been tested for this specific allergy, and when I made the necessary dietary changes, my life changed.

Twenty-plus years and about two hundred twenty thousand tissues later, I was free. Joy and astonishment came first, then a question – God, why didn’t You show me this earlier? I didn’t need to wait for His reply; I knew why. I hadn’t asked. Well, I knew the petition came up at some point since 6th grade, but I hadn’t asked in confident faith with an open mind (ready to accept whatever Holy Spirit revealed even if it seemed impossible or absurd) and waited for His response. What I had done was presumed I didn’t have a food allergy because specialty doctors performed their tests and assured me I need not bother with any dietary restrictions.

I know I’m guilty at times of placing unquestioning trust in medical professionals instead of turning first to The Creator of all living things. But before you label God “unfair,” – He knew since birth my unique allergy – Apostle Matthew recorded these words straight from Jesus Christ Himself: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7) Also, Holy Spirit inspired James to pen this instruction: “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:5-6, NIV). Ask and believe. I believe the Lord has fixed these two as close together as a two-ply tissue. And if our “answer” doesn’t come immediately? Check out my article, Who Is God? A Rewarder of Persistence, Pleased with Righteous Grit.

From Saved to Sellouts

David of the Old Testament understood God and His affinity of “ask.” In 1 Samuel 23, David and his army heard that the town of Keilah (a city belonging to the tribe of Judah) was being ransacked by the Philistines. David asks God (verse 2) if he should attack and rescue the people. “Yes,” God replies. Some of David’s men are fearful, so David asks again. God again assures David of victory, so they proceed and indeed conquer, plunder, and liberate. King Saul, who is trying to kill David, hears he is in Keilah. Believing David is trapped, Saul assembles his army for an ambush (verses 7-8). David receives word of Saul’s plan and must make a decision. Fight? Flee? David and his men had just scored a major win; why wonder if they would yet again prevail? But David, full of wisdom and knowledge of God’s character, didn’t assume anything. Oddly, David asks God two questions, and God only answers one of them:

David prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him? And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O Lord, God of Israel, please tell me.”

And the Lord said, “He will come.” (1 Samuel 23: 10-11)

For sure, God is not incapable of contemplating a two-part question. I am no Bible scholar, and I could be wrong, but I see God emphasizing how vital it is to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking (sound familiar?) I also believe God tested David here. At this point, David could have presumed the second answer. Did he not, days earlier, rescue everyone in Keilah? They’d be insane (and extremely ungrateful) to betray their hero! Yet David asks God again: “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?” (vs 12) The answer is now given: Yes, they will betray you.

No “Ask” Exemptions – Even for Jesus!

“Inquiry,” over “infer,” saved David’s life and his entire army! I wonder if David’s son, King Solomon, thought of his dad’s adventure in Keilah when he wrote, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV) No title, even “King,” can claim special privilege to skip a petition position before God Almighty. But what about Jesus? C.H. Spurgeon, a spiritual giant of the 19th century who some call "Prince of Preachers," said, “If the Royal and Divine Son of God cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that He may have, you and I cannot expect the rule to be relaxed in our favor. Why should it be?...If you may have everything by asking, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is and I beseech you to abound in it.” Is this true? Here are a few verses that stand out to me where I see Jesus “asking.”

John 17:1 Jesus spoke these things; and raising His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, so that the Son may glorify You,
John 17:5 And now You, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world existed.
John 17: 9-11 I ask on their (disciples) behalf…Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are.
John 17:15-17 I am not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them away from the evil one…Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
John 17:20-21 I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.

*all NASB translation

SO…
You
Me
King
Queen
Scholar
Uneducated
Unknown
Seen

No exceptions, no excuses, no exemptions – ASK!