Your “Ask” Key 🔑

Happy New Month beautiful people! August so fast?!
I don’ believe ettt. It’s crazy how we’re already more than halfway though the year. God has been faithful. As challenging as this year may have been for you (Me? I’ve been through it this year- tried, tested and refined) , the fact that you’re breathing and able to read this is proof that you’ve got at least one thing you can be thankful for. I have no shortage of things to be grateful for but I think what tops the list is God. What I mean to say is – I’m grateful to God for God… for making Himself accessible to me and letting me in on the very best friendship. Me and my bestie are literally inseparable – life or death, and I love it.

The previous paragraph has absolutely nothing to do with the topic but gratitude always sets a good precedent. She should always have a seat at the table. Watch her transform your perspective and elevate your life each time you host her. My advice? Make her a resident in your home. You’re better off with her abiding in and with you. Yes “her” is Ms. Gratitude. I have this weird but not-so-weird thing about gendering abstract stuff… gives a little bit of personality if you ask me 😅. Anyways, let’s jump into the crux of the matter real quick!

So here’s the deal, I’ve got lots to talk to you about but this topic seemed most fitting to start a new month. Just like at the beginning of a new year, many of us have new goals and plans to help us with things we want to accomplish on a monthly basis. It’s almost like seeing the “1st” ignites something in us to refresh goals and revisit plans in an attempt to maximize the season we find ourselves in. Today, I specifically want to let you in on, or remind you of a major key to receiving and walking in the fullness of what God has available for you – The “ask”.

Your “ask” has the ability to propel you into rooms you dreamed of all your life. It has the ability to open storehouses that you never envisioned, to build connections with people that seemed unreachable and to open the door that favor, who eagerly waits to precede you, resides on other side of. Basically, the gist is this – Your “ask” is a key. Learning how to use this key has been quite the journey for me and before that statement gives you any ideas, I’m still very much so on that journey. I have not arrived but I can confidently say that I’m not where I used to be.

Your “ask” has the ability to propel you into rooms you dreamed of all your life. It has the ability to open storehouses that you never envisioned, to build connections with people that seemed unreachable and to open the door that favor, who eagerly waits to precede you, resides on other side of. Basically, the gist is this – Your “ask” is a key.

From a very young age, I learnt that people can only disappoint you when you are disposed to them. If you did not ask, you likely wouldn’t have to deal with rejection. If you did not hope, you could not be disappointed. If you did not care, you could not be hurt. If you did not have a dependency, you could not be let down. As a result of this realization, I have had a very high aversion to committing to anything that requires my dependency on another human. While a major part of the reason behind that was not wanting to be a burden to anyone, the other part of it was a protection strategy. Or so I thought.

Over the years, I had done many things in my power to be ‘Miss Independent’ all as a defence mechanism. The strong desire to be able to take care of myself, by myself, and never be in a position that leaves me vulnerable at another man’s mercy caused me to put walls up. And yes, it definitely did do what I thought it would – it mitigated disappointment from people. The problem is that’s not all it did. It also blocked many blessings. There is a reason why the Bible says to guard your heart people. ‘Guard’ not ‘Wall’. When you guard your heart, you give opportunity to allow access to those who are deserving of it. Letting the right people and things in can add such ease and beauty to your life in ways you never fathomed. Letting the right people in can also be seasonal – perhaps it was to build your character in some way. Or for you to be a blessing to them and their assignment for a period of time. Whichever the case, gates work two ways, the same way people and things can come in when you let them, we’ve got to be willing to let them go if/when their time is up. Good Holy Spirit Nugget: “When you ‘guard’, you assess to grant access.”

“When you ‘guard’ your heart, you assess to grant access.”

Phew, as usual, I took a bit of a turn there but I guess I can’t help myself sometimes. Let’s get back to “the ask”. I have found myself in a lot of situations where I had people, sometimes friends, with a quick solution to my need. I could clearly see people who were able and qualified to help eliminate the worry, anxiety and stress I was experiencing from trying to solve a problem by myself. Instead of me to ask, I would contemplate and deliberate how I could get these things done without reaching or ‘bothering’ anybody. Recently though, despite long hesitations and deliberations , I’ve eventually yielded to the voice within that whispered “Just ask”(A feat I’m very much proud of I might add). What is it with me and a potential ‘no’ anyways? It can only go one of two ways – they either help, or they don’t. But more likely than not, the latter is sure to be the result if you do not ask.

Being a recovering overthinker, I have often played the whole conversation in my head with multiple permutations and combinations of how the other party could respond before choosing to struggle by myself rather than ask. One thing the Lord has taught me is this – Stop responding on behalf of other people. Let them use their mind and their will. Give them a chance to use their voice. They never said ‘no’ but in my mind, I’d rationalized and concocted a whole story and how their character in the movie that was my mind would let me down. Or how my request would be so inconvenient for them. Making up people’s minds for them, without them, is simply unfair. Said person deserves a chance to evaluate and respond without having another person’s ideology projected on them. Don’t rob yourself of a potential blessing, if the Holy Spirit permits, better still, if He leads, please dear, Just Ask.

Don’t rob yourself of a potential blessing. If the Holy Spirit prompts, Just Ask.
Independence is not a kingdom principle. Interdependence is.

Key point here : Independence is not a kingdom principle. Interdependence is. 1 Cor 12:12-28 buttresses this point. Suffice to say that little “Miss Independent” has to die. That’s not who God called me to be. First of all, the Lord desires total dependency on Him … I never quite had an issue with this. Or so I thought. I’m as needy as they get when it comes to my reliance on God and I fully embrace it but part of being dependent on God is trusting Him to provide for you in any way He sees fit. This, my friends, include people. God is the source; people, jobs, and whatsoever channel the Lord chooses acts as the resource. Now if you’re well-versed in the scripture, you may be thinking of the verse where Paul speaks on how he worked day and night in order to not be a burden to the people [2 Thes 3:8]. The context of this is idleness. This post is certainly not encouraging idleness or laziness, we must do the work necessary. Rather, this is a post encouraging you to be open to receiving help and more specifically, asking for help when needed and led to.

I see this lesson laced through the scriptures. Asking God and Asking People

Asking God
I don’t think I need to say much here. The Lord encourages us to ask Him all through scripture. He cares about your needs and is waiting for you to cast your burdens before Him. Go to Him, talk to Him, use your authority in Christ and watch Him move in ways beyond your imagination. I’m reminded of the story that Jesus told His disciples about the persistent widow [Luke 18:1-6] to emphasize the need to be persistent in prayer. He encourages them to keep on pressing in and bring their requests before the Lord. The same applies for us. Keep on Praying. Keep on asking the Lord. He hears you and at the right time, if it is aligned with His will, He will make it happen.

Asking People
Asking people, yeah… this is the one. I’m reminded of instances through the scripture where God used other people to meet needs of His children. In fact, there were times where God sent His kids out seemingly vulnerable and in need because He had chosen to use other vessels to meet those needs. This happened with the twelve apostles. Jesus told them not to take their possessions with them AND to not be hesitant to accept hospitality[Mat 10:9-10]. The idea was not to build a dependency on people but on God, knowing fully well that God can choose to provide through any means. Are you limiting the ways God can provide for you?

Sometimes, even though God has chosen a man to feed you, you still have to ask. A very good example is seen in 1 Kings 17. After the Lord fed Elijah using ravens and the brook dried up, He told him to go to Zarephath as He had instructed a widow to feed him. So yes, the Lord instructed the widow to feed him butttt Elijah still had to call out to her and ask for water and then bread. Now it is the Lord’s instruction that caused her to release the supply to Elijah but it was on his ask! Perhaps God put the answer to your prayers in someone’s possession and the access code is your “ask”.

Now believe me, if asking makes your skin crawl, I get it. I would much rather people always gave to me without having to ask. It happens sometimes but not all the time. Personally, I believe that the requirement to ask can be used to kill off pride, teach us to depend on God, learn to be fluid in how we receive from Him and to learn the function of community and the interdependency in the body of Christ ( Not to say that it is only Christians God can use to help you, that is absolutely false ). Part of our purpose is to meet the needs of others.

Time and time again through the scriptures, we are told to ask.

“Ask that your joy may be full” – John 16:24
“Ask and you shall receive” – Mat 7:7
“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” -Jer 33:3
“You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it” – James 4:2

Do not rob yourself of blessings because of a closed mouth. Seek the Lord on what you desire and if He nudges you to ask, please humble yourself and do just that. Your source is not man, it is God. Besides, once again, what is the worst that can happen? Your obedience to ask simply unlocks an added possibility of a “yes”.

Just a few days ago, I yielded and asked a friend for a favour. My hope was not in my friend, but in God and I had felt the nudge to just ask. Let’s be honest, I hesitated…for a whileee, this blog post was birthed from that. I eventually asked without putting much faith in the outcome and I was met with favour, grace and kindness. My friend gave me a very confident “yes” and exceeded my every request. I think of how much more it would have cost me to keep my mouth shut.

I pray that you would be sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit and allow Him to meet your needs in the way He has chosen to in Jesus’ Name. Be obedient. There’s always a blessing on the other side 🤍

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