Hint or Question?

From a young age, I remember my dad putting into practice the truth of scripture:  "Ask and ye shall receive."  While some parents are content to ask leading questions of their children, it was clear that if I wanted something I would need to ask for it.  More and more these days I notice people don't actually ask for things:  they will hint or resort to manipulative tactics to achieve their ends.  For instance, let's say you see a child struggling to open the lid of a container.  He grunts and groans, making his frustration known.  His mum notices the struggles of her son and says, "Do you want me to open that for you?"  The child nods and brings it to his mum to open.  This is an unscriptural way to deal with this issue.  If a child wants help, he must be required humble himself to ask for it.  God requires no less of His children.  Before long this can become a deeply entrenched habit the boy or parent won't even recognise which can affect not only his relationship with men, but his approach to God.

Here is another perfect illustration of this hinting in the movie "Napoleon Dynamite."  Kip gets his wish, though he never asks a question.  He simply makes a statement.  But like most of us, Napoleon took the hint and responds to a statement as if he was asked. 

James writes of common problems of people in James 4:2-3:  "You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures."  We have not because we ask not, and when we do ask it is often with selfish motivation.  Like that child struggling with the lid, we might suppose we have actually asked God to help us when all we have done is grunt and groan in frustration.  We vent our anger to God, we lay out our frustrations, but we never actually ask Him to do anything.  And when we do ask Him to intervene, we do so not led by the Holy Spirit, but according to our selfish dictates.  Even worse, we choose to complain or consult with people rather than taking our issues to God at all.  It's not until we are on a severe downward spiral before we even think to speak to God in prayer.

Jesus teaches us in Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."  God does not exist to supply our lack, but it is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom!  He is a gracious provider, a generous giver, and hears the prayers of the humble.  We are evil and know how to give good gifts:  how much more is the Father able and willing to give to Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?  It a is wonderful consolation that God does many things for our benefit without us asking.  His will is not restricted by our poor pseudo-questions.  But when we desire something, we ought to ask.  Instead of resorting to manipulation or hinting, let us humble ourselves before both God and man to ask direct questions.  In answering a question, let our words be obedient to what Jesus commands in Matthew 5:37:  "But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."  May our requests of God be actual questions!  Only after we ask will the answer come.