Queens Creek United Methodist Church

" . . . ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and

the door will be opened for you" (Luke 11:9).

God has a wonderful "system" by which we as His children are to get our

needs met. It's a very simple "system," but somehow, we fail to utilize it

as we should. Here's the plan: God says we are to ask Him. Is that simple or

what? We are to call unto Him, to cry out our needs before Him, to bring our

petitions before His throne. But somehow, we must think His plan is too

complex, for with most of us, asking God is the last thing we do when we

have needs.

Oh, we'll tell our friends. We'll discuss our needs with any and all who

have the patience and courtesy to listen. We'll frequently complain about

our problems, even to the extent of sometimes holding God responsible for

His seeming failure to provide for us. But ask God? Usually we'll do that

only as a last resort.

The result is a sad state of affairs among Christians. "You do not have,

because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly,

in order to spend what you get on your pleasures" (James 4:2-3). So our

needs go unmet because either we do not ask or we ask with wrong motives.

J. Irvin Overholtzer was a pastor who was greatly used by God as the founder

of Child Evangelism Fellowship. His philosophy of providing for the

financial needs of this world-wide organization was this: "Ask God . . . and

tell His people." Yes, we need to share our needs with others. We ought to

make others aware of opportunities for them to get involved in being used of

God to meet those needs. But the first step in the entire process is this:

"Ask God."

And when we do, we can claim His promise stated so clearly in Jeremiah 33:3

‹ "Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden

things that you have not known."

Say, do you have needs in your life today? Why not "ask God"? Why not come

boldly to His throne? Why not take Him at His Word and "call" unto Him?

That's God's plan for His children: " . . . ask, and it will be given you;

search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you"

(Luke 11:9).

Or as Eliza Hickock wrote a century ago, "I know not by what methods rare,

but this I know: God answers prayer!"