Ask and you shall receive.

Time and time again I learn that a Bible verse is even truer than I once thought. "Ask  and you shall receive" is another one! I am continually surprised. It is a little like when I was discovering all the ways a woman can "build her home". I think there are so many things that at first I saw one way and then later I see as so much more. That is what is exciting! Remember when Helen Keller's hand was in the running water and suddenly she realised the spelling on her hand meant "water" and that it was a language! The penny dropped. She got it! A new whole world opened to her in that insant. Well, now and then in some small way I make a discovery or realisation that is a light bulb moment! This one was a slow one for me. But ask and you shall receive!

How many wishes do you have in your heart that you have never verbalised? I mean really think about this. We carry dreams in our heart and desires for all kinds of things... Some we would feel silly to even admit! Some we have always wanted and may have never told anyone. Some are trivial and we think they are not worth telling anyone.

When I was younger I was full of wishes. I am sure no one in the world knew any of them. Most of my world was inside of me, a whirring of thoughts and dreams, that it never even occurred to me to talk about. 

Many of us don't. There seem to be a lot of reasons for the silence. Maybe it seems greedy for us to make our requests known? Or we would seem self centred... Or revealing these things is too much to reveal? Maybe we are a bit afraid of a big fat no. Or that we might fail...  Or if we ask for the chance to do something big maybe we won't measure up. Maybe another kind of failure is worrying us. Perhaps we think our talent isn't good enough and so to ask isn't appropriate. There are all kinds of things that stop us asking for our hearts desires. Maybe we just don't feel worthy enough to ask for favour?Sometimes I think we hope or expect others will just know what we want. That they somehow should know. But they don't have much chance unless we tell them! There are a lot of reasons that our wishes are kept to ourselves or that we just don't ask, even for the things we need.

Whatever it is it seems to be a normal thing! Did you ever hear of someone getting some amazing thing and wondering why of why? Well, they probably asked. 

Really really think about this. Are you a wisher or an asker? 

If I could highlight on an iPad I would! Are you a wisher or an asker?

I have to say I started small. And I still have to think about it. But somewhere, sometime, I verbalised a wish and asked. With amazing results. Results that make me think of the verse "ask and you shall receive" and think oh... I never thought to ask in spite of reading this verse hundreds of times. Oops I am a slow learner!

When I say this I mean to verbalise and ask God. Ask away. And ask the people you meet or the people in your life as well. Just ask. And you will receive!

If you are never an asker maybe start small.

Pray for something that is a need or your hearts desire. Pray before you do the grocery shopping that the money you have will cover all you need. Pray over your budget. Pray God will show you where to look and open your eyes to possibilities that will help you.

Then with people you meet... maybe ask a salesperson if there is a discount for cash. Or a person at a garage sale if they would take a little less being what you have in your purse.

If asking is hard for you then start of small.

But you can work up to ridiculously big things and be amazed.

I am continually surprised at the results of plucking up the courage to ask.

I guess if you have never had any trouble asking you will wonder what I'm talking about. But if you have things you have never dared ask or are a person who wishes they could ask... then this is for you.

Do you hear of people getting great discounts because they asked but you think you would never be brave enough to ask yourself?  In most cases the worst thing that can happen is someone will say no. It just isn't fatal, it is ok. You can say "ok, I really needed to ask that as...."  (Insert truth like "just now I cannot afford full price") and smile and it is fine.

If I was to list all the times in my life where I have asked and received I would never end this post. So instead I will give some recent examples.

I asked a lady in an op shop (thrift store) if they had any pure wool blankets out the back and she said yes! Then I asked if she would ring me if any more came in. And she said yes.

I asked Laine if she would do a guest post on my blog. Ok, this one involved some breath holding. But she said yes!! At the time I told Andy this one. I said to him normally I would never ask such a thing. But I had the though that so many yeses had come my way lately and that I was on a mission to ask.  This seemed big and unlikely to me. But she said yes!

At the doctor I asked if a test could cost less money? And they said yes and bulk billed me.

At the chemist I asked if there was an alternative that would be less expensive but do the same thing. The chemist said yes and it was one quarter the price.

People are often amazed at the meat specials I get from the supermarket. How do I know just what time to go to get such great specials? I asked!

Others are amazed how much free fruit I get. Now, Adelaide is good for fruit trees... But none of them are my fruit trees. So how do I get to pick fruit from so many of them? You are getting the hang of this, yes,  I asked!

Really if a neighbours tree is laden with fruit that is falling to the ground and rotting and you come along and ask them if you can pick it and return to them with a baked pie or jars of jam most people are going to say yes! Just ask. 

When it is going to be impossible to pay a bill on time ring up and ask for an extension. This is so much easier than dreading them contacting you. Explain and ask. 

I just can't imagine how may dreams never come true because we are afraid to tell others what they are. Afraid to ask for what we really want. 

I know we are never going to get a yes to every single thing. But I think we get a yes many more times than we would ever dream if only we would just ask. 

Start small if you need to. God must want us to ask or the a Bible wouldn't say "ask and you shall receive." It is interesting since God knows our thoughts He still wants us to ask. So ask!

Small scale asking can change your life or at least your week. Ask someone that you know is a good knitter to help you get started. Or ask someone to teach you a skill that you know would be handy or save you money. A couple of weeks ago I asked someone who is a really good EBay seller if I find designer items would she sell them and we could be a team? Well, she said yes! She has trouble finding good things to sell. Perfect!

Asking the right questions can help you so much and unlock all kinds of doors.

Have courage and ask. I hope you are amazed at the results.

Have a wonderful week. Chloe is letting me use her old laptop so I will be able to use that for my next post I am hoping. Learning to use my iPad more has been very handy though. So I hope this post works with no glitches! Xxx