Ask

DEVOTION

ISAIAH

ASK

Isa 7:10-17

10 Again the LORD spoke to Ahaz, 11 "Ask the LORD your God for a sign, whether in the deepest depths or in the highest heights."

12 But Ahaz said, "I will not ask; I will not put the LORD to the test."

13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.   15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. 16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. 17 The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah — he will bring the king of Assyria."

NIV

It is one thing to be aware not to put God to a foolish test, but when he tells us to ask for a sign, why we would not obey him and ask for a sign is beyond understanding. God even told him that his request for a sign could be from the deepest depths to the highest heights, which means God did not put any restrictions on Ahaz in asking for a sign. He could ask for anything, any sign, it did not matter how great or small of a sign, God would give it to him.  But because he refused to ask, God offered a sign of his own. If God tells us to ask, and we do not, we are trying his patience. Although we are talking here about a sign, it reminds us of what Jesus told us.

John 14:13-14

13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

NIV

Now we also know that we cannot ask for things that are not within the will of God, such as asking for a new car, or a million dollars, or something else, unless God told us to ask for that specific thing, like he told Ahaz to ask for a sign. Yet the point is when God tells us to ask, we should ask. We can have that confidence in our asking because he will hear us and if he hears us, well we know what will happen.

1 John 5:13-15

13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him.

NIV

We have enough here that we will leave the sign God did give until next time. We do need to focus on this asking thing a little more. Why do we not ask? Are we afraid he won’t answer? Maybe we are not asking according to his will? How can we know his will? He has told us his will in his word. We know that it his will that we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and he gives us eternal life. We know it is his will to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We know it is his will to heal us, to provide for us, to guide us, to love us, to protect us, and on and on the list goes. So do we ask, or do we just expect? That is the one aspect of prayer we might forget at times, to sit and just listen to what he wants us to ask for. All too often we just give him a laundry list of our needs, and pay little to no attention to what he is wanting us to ask for. How can we know unless we listen? Maybe that is why he gave us two ears and only one mouth. We know that reason, to listen twice as much as we talk in our prayers. So we ask.