Just Ask

“ Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full… the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. ”

An Eastern mystic asks us to consider what is the sound of one hand clapping. Or the sound of a tree falling in the forest when there is no one there to hear it. If we get ourselves lost on the convoluted path toward nothing, we may neglect the power of a tree that is still standing in our forest, and the power that we possess when one hand clasps the other in silence.

I am regarded a capable man. I do have some abilities and have been trained to do a number of handy things: paint a house, build an arbor, fix a sprinkler, mend a roof, compose a business letter, design a coffeehouse, work a computer. But the very abilities I rely upon can be a handicap— I know —when the greatest ability I have, I fail to use. Then I am cursed , as it were, with capability , because I will go only as far as I am able to go myself. When I come to the end of that, however far that is, I'm done. All I find out is the limits of a man. And man by himself is limited indeed.

Great men are born out of times of terrible need, international strife, unresolved human crisis, or natural disaster. My wife used to wonder why I liked to watch disaster movies, and asked me about it, when I brought home the movie, Volcano, “ the coast is toast ,” where Los Angeles suddenly erupts in molten lava. Actually, if you've been to LA, the popularity of that movie is obvious. But the looming disaster calls one man out of his normal capable life into a crisis that calls something else out of him. I like to see that heroic thing come from an otherwise normal, average person.

If we only knew it, the crises of our own day, the wars that rages over our heads in high places, call us all, each of us, into the battle to be key players in the great drama. And if we thought we might know how to proceed, what to do with that calling, we'll be very disappointed in ourselves, in how little we know, in how powerless we are, by ourselves, in our own strength.

Israel was a nation born through a mysterious relationship of man and God. The language of this relationship is not called Hebrew, Chaldean, Aramaic, Greek or Latin. The language of this relationship is called prayer.

Abraham heard God's call to move away from his family and to become a special nation. God heard the cries of that nation in Egypt and He carried on a strange conversation with an exiled shepherd, Moses. In prayer alone, Joshua led the children of Israel to conquer Canaan. God worked miracles in the prayers of Elijah and saved His people innumerable times when His people prayed. His prophets saw their Messiah in visions when praying to God and asking Him what must become of them. David slew the giant and became Israel's greatest warrior king, because God was His strength. Here is a sample of Israel's greatest warrior, most capable man, most worthy ruler, when he acknowledged his weakness before God in prayer:

“Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave. The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life—men without regard for you. But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Turn to me and have mercy on me; grant your strength to your servant and save the son of your maidservant. Give me a sign of your goodness, that my enemies may see it and be put to shame, for you, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.” Psalm 86 NIV

Jesus came among us, the Son of God on earth, having the Holy Spirit within Himself, able to destroy every enemy, and overcome death itself. He had so much power in Himself, the highest ruler in the universe by rights. And yet, “when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.” Matthew 14:23 “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” Mark 1:35 And when He was about to triumph over the devil and the sins of the world, he told the Apostles, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matthew 26:38-39 “He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” Matthew 26:42

Jesus taught, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 11:24 His brother James wrote the church, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 1:5 St. Paul wrote of his own besetting infirmity: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 2 Cor. 12:8-9

Prayer is how heroes are made. Capable men are a dime a dozen. They can give you a good day's work, but at the end you got eight hours and a tired laborer. Whatever he gave you, that's all he's got. Run a household with one or more children in it, and you will find your limits. They don't run out of energy when you do. It's amazing how little strength we have when all we have to draw upon is what was in us already. We can drive a car. We can fix a meal. We can change a diaper. But we run out of tricks all too soon.

The battle and the drama, the great conflicts of life overwhelm us and we find ourselves weak in the face of it. And if we consider the great cosmic battle of good vs. evil , of wickedness in high places where we war not against flesh and blood but face Satan himself: we're toast too, just like LA . Opt out and you're just a casualty. You may say, “This kind of thing just isn't for me,” but the fact is, you're in enemy territory. To walk away from your post is desertion, and the only other choice is surrender, compliance with evil, treason against your fellow men. Edmund and the White Witch , selling his brother and sisters for Turkish delight.

So we find ourselves in a world needing heroes and against foes unseen and immensely powerful, arrayed against our family and best friends. Is it time to wonder what the sound of one hand clapping might be? Or the lonely sound of a falling tree? Is it time to read the paper, watch some TV, hum along with some oldies, and go to the mall? I ride the streets with police officers so well armed and trained; they are a formidable force against evil. They just love their new SWAT van, a mobile command center, fully equipped with gear for the ten man team ready to respond with special weapons and tactics for any emergency. And yet, many of these highly capable warriors are men and women of prayer. They know that if God is not with them, they may not go home tonight. Are you any less in need of God?

Christ said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7 “ Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you… ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full… ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: For the Father himself loveth you.” John 16:23-27

God loves you, and that means He cares when you run to Him and ask Him what to do, how to proceed. He takes it seriously when you ask Him to help you, to do for you what you can't do for yourself. His answer may be as He answered St. Paul, “My strength is perfected in your weakness. I'm not going to change this now.” Or it may be, “It's about time you asked me. Now, stand back and watch this.” The greatest power in the universe is ours when one hand joins the other and we enter a dialog with our God.

A tree stood in a lonely forest. Upon it, the most holy fruit was hung. Once another tree held a fruit that could give knowledge and sorrow, for evil would be known through it's fruit and a world fell as the seeds of that fruit fell from the hands of a man and a woman in a garden. Now it was another fruit that hung, the best of men, a perfect man was nailed there to die, to make up for the man and the woman, and all those in their lineage. On that tree, that cross, He prayed, “Father, forgive them. My God, why have you left me? Into thy hands, I commend my spirit.”

Don't ask what a tree sounds like when it falls. Ask what this tree is doing standing in the middle of your life. Don't ask what one hand sounds like. Ask what two hands clasped may beseech of Him who died there, and who rose heroic, triumphing over death itself. We have the power within reach when we recognize our own weakness and limitations, when we see the size of our foe, and what is at stake—and turn our troubles over to our God. If we can use these two hands for anything at all, it should begin with them joined together in prayer. Ask, just ask.

PFH+