“You do not have, because you do not ask.” (James 4:2 ESV)

You must ask to receive

Someone asked a bank robber why he robbed banks and he said, “That’s where the money is!” He was certainly right about that, although his way of getting it was definitely wrong. Just as the bank is “where the money is”, God is where the provision is. When you look at God and who He is as our creator and provider, you can clearly see that that’s where the blessings and provision are. Therefore, it should be obvious that that’s where you must go to get what you need, directly to God. But, in reality, and according to the passage at top, “You do not have, because you do not ask.” We fail to receive by not going to God and asking for what we need! In fact, Jesus said that should be our first response. The following are some verses which tell us what we should do when we have a need. 

WHEN YOU HAVE A NEED: 

• Seek God first about it - “
  "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33 NKJV)

• Boldly approach God about it – “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb. 4:16 NKJV)

• Don’t worry about it - “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (Phil. 4:6 ESV)

• Ask for it in the Name of Jesus - “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14 ESV)

• Ask with correct motives – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” (James 4:3 ESV)

• Find and claim promises in God’s Word to support your request – “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” (2 Cor. 1:20 ESV); “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” (John 15:7 ESV)

• Ask with confidence and expectancy - “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matt. 7:7-11 ESV)

• Believe with faith that you have received it -“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:24 ESV); “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matt. 21:22 ESV)

• Thank God for it – “Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Eph. 5:20 ESV)

Therefore…
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7 ESV)

“When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” (Prov. 21:15 ESV)

 Evil men do not understand justice but the righteous do

“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.” (Prov. 28:5 ESV)

 The Lord loves justice 

“For I the Lord love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.” (Isa. 61:8 ESV)

“He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.” (Psalm 33:5 ESV)

“Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints. They are preserved forever, but the children of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.” (Psalm 37:27-29 ESV)

 God requires you to do justice

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8 ESV)

 Therefore…

“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (Isa. 30:18 ESV)

“Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deut. 16:20 ESV)

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24 ESV)

“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.” (Isa. 1:17 ESV)

“Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!” (Psalm 196:3 ESV)

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 ESV)

Praying in the Holy Spirit builds your faith

“But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,” (Jude 1:20 ESV) 

Pray both with your Spirit and with your mind

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” (Eph. 6:18 ESV)

“What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.” (1 Cor. 14:15 ESV)

Therefore…

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col. 3:16 ESV)

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Gal. 5:16,17 ESV)

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Rom. 8:26-27 ESV)

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14 ESV)

 Quote:

“Praying in the Spirit is vital to our sanctification (growth in grace and knowledge of Christ and in our ethical response to God in every area of life). Moreover, praying in the Holy Spirit is God’s glorious means of advancing His will on earth as it is in heaven.” -  J. Oswald Sanders

“And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:31 ESV)

 At the sound of God’s trumpet the dead shall be raised

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.

 (1 Cor. 15:52 ESV)

 At the sound of God’s trumpet Christ shall reign forever and ever

“Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God…” (Rev. 9:13 ESV)

“Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” (Rev. 11:15 ESV)

 Therefore…

 “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.  For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thess. 4:13-18 ESV)

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20 ESV)

It’s a sign of the end times

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” (2 Tim. 3:1-4 ESV)

“And especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones,” (2 Peter 2:10ESV)

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,” (1 Tim. 4:1-2 ESV) 

“While evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Tim. 3:13 ESV)

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” (John 3:19 ESV)

Therefore…

“Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” ( 3 John 1:11 ESV)

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” (Rom. 12:9 ESV)

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Rom. 12:21 ESV)

“Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.” (Psalm 62:8 ESV)

God is our refuge and strength

“… God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1 ESV)

God covers you with His pinions 

“He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” (Psalm 81:4 ESV)

Therefore…

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. “Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:9-16 ESV)

“But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.” (Rom. 2:5 ESV)

The Lord sees and weighs the heart

“… For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” ( 1 Sam. 16:7 ESV) 

“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” (Prov. 21:2 ESV)

A hardened heart darkens understanding

“And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? (Mark 8:17 ESV)

“For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.” (Mark 6:52 ESV)

“They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.” (Eph. 4:18 ESV)

Vigilantly keep your heart 

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” (Prov. 4:23 ESV)

Blessed is the one who fears the Lord always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

 God gives a new heart

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” (Eze. 26:36 ESV)

Therefore…

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. 3:13 ESV)

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14 ESV)

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13 ESV)

 Quotes:

“God is the shaper of your heart. God does not display his work in abstract terms. He prefers the concrete, and this means that at the end of your life one of three things will happen to your heart: it will grow hard, it will be broken, or it will be tender. Nobody escapes.” - Ravi Zacharias

“You must keep all earthy treasures out of your heart, and let Christ be your treasure, and let Him have your heart.” - Charles Spurgeon

“The great and important duty which is incumbent on Christians, is to guard against all appearance of evil; to watch against the first risings in the heart to evil; and to have a guard upon our actions, that they may not be sinful, or so much as seem to be so.” - George Whitefield

“I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.” (Psalm 7:17 ESV)

 Give thanks in all circumstances 

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thess. 5:18 ESV)

“Giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Eph. 5:20 ESV)

Give thanks because the Lord is good and steadfast

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1 ESV)

 Therefore…

“A Psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalms 100:1-5 ESV)

“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Col. 4:2 ESV)

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Col. 3:17 ESV)

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” (2 Cor. 2:14 ESV)

Quotes:

 “If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson 

“It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” – Helen Keller 

“Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate…” (Amos 5:15 ESV)

Hate what is evil!

“O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 97:10 ESV) 

“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” (Prov.  8:13 ESV)

Things that the Lord hates

“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” (Prov. 6:16-19 ESV)

The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil

“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” (Prov.  8:13 ESV)

Therefore…

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good (Rom. 12:9 ESV)

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.” (Prov. 15:3 ESV)