14 Jul Just Ask

Hi everyone! Pastor Barnabas here, with what I hope is an encouraging word for you:

Back in my high school, once you became a junior, you were presented with the opportunity of choosing a trade, such as automotive repair, plumbing, masonry, and a handful of others. After doing a rotation in all the different areas, I chose Electrical Trades, which primarily consisted of residential wiring.

The teacher at the time (who will remain nameless!) was vulgar, crude, and just downright, as the saying goes, a dirty old man (just keeping it real). Looking back, I honestly have no idea how this guy kept his job…he was a “hot mess”. Yet all the students loved him; myself included. Don’t judge me…I was a teenager!

But there was one thing he would always say that has stuck with me for almost two decades: If you don’t ask, the answer is no.

He, in his own way, invited us to have hope.

Somehow underneath all the inappropriate jokes and comments, was a message that urged his students to at least try. I learned that if I am willing to ask, maybe, just maybe there’s a chance I might receive what I’m believing for, and I think that that thought, even though coming from not the most reputable source, was, and is, inherently Christian, Biblical, and for us today.

If you don’t ask, the answer is no.

You may be reading this right now and thinking, “But I’ve asked before and it didn’t turn out the way I had hoped.” I know; me too. I’ve watched dreams die; seen hope singed by the fire of trials and have wondered at times, “why even try?”

Romans 5:1-5 says this, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

What’s interesting is that the glory of God refers to His magnificence resulting in praise, while glory in our suffering means to rejoice even in the midst of our tribulations. Prayer, part of which is asking God for things, is an integral part of bringing God’s glory. This means both answered and unanswered prayers are part of the journey and equally vital in the shaping of our character and faith. My earnest desire is that we won’t allow hope to die and that we will just ask God for whatever we’re believing for. After all, as James 4:2 tells us: “You have not, because you ask not.”

In other words, if you don’t ask, the answer is always no.

May we as God’s people not grow weary of well-doing; may we continue to believe even when our hearts fail us and remember that we have a hope that does not put us to shame!

Barnabas