Just Ask: When God Invites Us to Bring Every Need to Him

Why do we try to fix everything ourselves when God simply asks us to ask?

I still marvel at how quickly I can wear myself out trying to solve something that could’ve been answered with a single request. It’s almost a specialty of mine—working harder, longer, and more anxiously than I ever needed to.

Take the time I had twenty dollars’ worth of rewards points that were about to expire. I was determined not to waste them, so I spent days trying to figure out the “perfect” way to use them. I scrolled. I added things to my cart. I deleted them. I repeated the whole dance until even I knew it was getting ridiculous. (Note the number of “I’s” in that paragraph.)

Finally—far later than I’d like to admit—I thought, What if I just ask them to extend the deadline?

It took ten seconds and one email. Problem solved.

And then the real question hit me: Why wasn’t this my first instinct? Why did I exhaust myself before ever thinking… to simply ask?

The answer stung a little, because it wasn’t the first time.

When We Had Nothing Left to Sell

I learned this lesson long before the reward-points saga—during a season when my husband was unexpectedly without work.

He immediately started a renovation and remodeling business, but income doesn’t flow quickly in a new venture. Every weekend, we re-homed something else from our garage: first his beloved motorcycle, then the camping gear, then the canoe. Eventually, I realized our garage actually had a floor—which I hadn’t seen in years. (That alone is a devotional on its own.)

We tightened our budget until it squeaked and ate so much Ramen that I still don’t eat them today. We prayed for a job. And we waited.

But we didn’t pray for Christmas.

Not because we didn’t care, but because we didn’t think to ask. It felt…unnecessary. Impractical. And even indulgent.

Until one of our children asked for one specific thing. It wasn’t expensive—it was just beyond our reach. No matter how many thrift stores I visited, I couldn’t find it.

Finally, exhausted and out of options, I did what I should’ve done from the beginning.

I asked.

“Lord, I need this specific item. I know it doesn’t feed us. I know it doesn’t advance the kingdom. But it matters to my child… and that matters to me.”

God answered in a way only He could.

I opened our mail that week to find our church had sent a benevolence check that covered Christmas—and the next two months of groceries—until my husband found an incredible job. And that job? He rose to the top of the applicant list precisely because he’d run his own business during that lean season. What we saw as loss was the very experience God used to open the next door.

Only God.

Why Do We Avoid Asking?

That’s a valid question. Maybe we assume God is too busy. Maybe we think our request is too small. Maybe we’ve convinced ourselves we should handle things alone. Or maybe we simply forget that asking is part of the Christian life.

But Scripture reminds us:

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…”
— Ephesians 3:20

More than we ask. More than we imagine. BUT we have to bring our needs to Him.

God doesn’t roll His eyes at our requests. He invites them.

What Do You Need to Ask for Today?

Wisdom?
Provision?
A softened heart?
Courage?
Peace?
A small thing that feels silly—except that it matters?

Bring it to Him.

God can do abundantly more than you can imagine. And sometimes the miracle begins not with striving, but with asking.

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