Ask And It Shall Be Given

Ask, and it shall be given to you;

seek and ye shall find;

knock and it shall be opened unto you.

For every one that asketh, receiveth;

and he that seeketh, findeth;

and to him that knocketh

it shall be opened.

~Matthew 7:7-8

Most of us have heard or read these words before, but how many of us have really taken them to heart? Studies have shown that marriages suffer from lack of communication. Many of us feel that if our spouse really loved us, then we would not have to ask them to do "this or "that" for us because they would automatically know what we want and need. Often times relationships with friends and family can be strained for the very same reasons. We expect the people in our lives to just know what we want without being told.

The Bible says; "Ask and it shall be given to you". Well, what if it is true? What if all we have to do is ask? We are all born with the ability to ask for what we want, if you don't believe me spend some time with my 2 year old son. My neighbors will tell you that mimics that of a broken record at times. That persistence and the ability to ask no matter how ridiculous the request is given to all of us as a birthright and somewhere along the way many of us lost the ability to ask. We get conditioned throughout life to stop being a pest, don't question authority, just shut up and listen, and to do what the doctor says, etc... But what if we just took the time to ask for what we want, ask for that helping hand, and ask for some advice.

I used to be one of those people who almost never asked for what I wanted. I would give hints, but I would almost never come right out and ask. It took me forever to ask for a day off at work. The anxiety of thinking about asking would almost make me sick. Whenever a friend would ask me what I wanted to do, I would always respond with "I don't care, whatever you want to do is fine."

I remember one night, about 4 or 5 yrs ago, going to bed sad because my husband had said earlier in the day that he would rub my feet before we went to bed. When night time came and did not grab my feet and start rubbing, I foolishly thought he did not care. The following morning I was still a little bummed out about it. Rod could sense something was wrong. When he asked I of course was reluctant to tell him, but with some prodding I finally told him. His response was simple. He apologised for forgetting and very plainly said "Why didn't you just ask me? I would have done it for you, I just forgot."

Why didn't I just ask? Hmmm, I am not sure why I didn't, but that is when I started to realise that asking for something is not bad. People are not mind readers and no matter how well your husband (or wife) and friends know you, they can not read your mind. It never hurts to ask whether it is help or advice that you need, the worst that can happen is someone will tell you "no" and it has been my personal experience that most people will do whatever they can to help you. Life is too short to go around scared to ask for what we want. Make a point to have an opinion when asked, ask for help when you need it, and live a happy life.

I will leave you with with the quote from W. Clement Stone;

"If there is something to gain and nothing to lose by asking, by all means ask!"