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

The group of 6th graders in English class sat in silence, each engrossed in a Scholastic adventure during reading time. Without warning, chair legs scraped across scuffed linoleum, piercing the palpable quiet. Seventeen pairs of curious pre-teen eyes peered over the spines of open books. Mark, the most popular—and handsome—boy in my grade, rose from his seat. The soles of Mark’s sneakers squeaked against the cold floor. Mrs. Baily, our teacher, thumbed through her magazine and said nothing. Everyone in class, including myself, wondered the same thing: What’s he doing?

Mark sauntered to Mrs. Bailey's desk and grabbed two tissues from the Kleenex box. The pressing question of "What's he doing?" now settled—nothing to see here. All the other girls and I surreptitiously watched Mark, certain he would return to his seat, which was three rows in front of mine.

Mark did not go back to his seat. I lowered my book that I had been pretending to read. Mark jetted past his chair and headed straight toward me. I’m sure my deer-in-the-headlights expression hurried him along in his mission.

Mark flashed his perfect, dimpled grin and handed me the two tissues. “I think you need these.”

In a nanosecond, the color of my face transformed from pasty white to blazing red. The class couldn’t suppress a hearty round of giggles and snickers. Unfortunately, I knew exactly what he meant.

In my childhood, I constantly struggled with a drippy nose, so 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” doctors, where I tried all sorts of treatments. Numerous tests scanned for sensitivity to a myriad of foes like 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 and 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. Long past middle school embarrassments, I was in my mid-20s and happily married. I sat alone on the floor of my walk-in closet, where I always prayed and studied my Bible. My alarm had woken me very early in the morning, so I quietly shuffled books and papers around me to settle in, careful not to wake my still-sleeping husband. Then it happened, like countless times before. My eyes watered and "super sniffing" commenced with full force.

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:

Alright God. I'm d-o-n-e with this. Please tell me why 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 was God plainly revealed the answer—not in an audible voice, but I saw a word in my mind. In all my trips to various clinics, specialists never tested for this specific allergy. When I made a particular dietary change, my life transformed. Twenty-plus years and approximately 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, the petition had come up since 6th grade, but I hadn’t asked in confident faith, then waited for God's answer, ready to accept whatever Holy Spirit revealed, even if it seemed absurd. What I had done was presumed I didn’t have a food allergy because professionals performed their tests and assured me I need not bother with any dietary restrictions.

I've certainly placed unquestioning trust in medical experts instead of turning first to The Creator. But before you label God “unfair,”—He knew since birth my unique allergy—Apostle Matthew recorded these words by Jesus Christ: “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 surmise the Lord has affixed these two as close together as a two-ply tissue. And if our “answer” doesn’t come immediately? Check out my blog post, 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 for “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 David is in Keilah. Saul believes he has trapped his rival and assembles his army for an ambush (verses 7-8). David receives word of Saul’s plan and must decide: Fight or 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, assumed nothing. 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)

Undeniably, 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: 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," explains it this way:

“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.”

Agreed. Here are a few verses that stand out to me where I see Jesus “asking.” All verses noted are in the NASB.

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.

SO…

You
Me
King
Queen
Scholar
Uneducated
Unknown
Seen

Ask.
No exceptions. No excuses. No exemptions.