Ask!

So my devotional that I read today got me thinking...here it is for those that want to read it...it looks long but it is very good! Keep reading to see my comments and leave yours as well! 

Just Ask 

Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
"Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us" (1 John 3:21-23, NIV).
Friend To Friend
Christmas morning is serious business at the Southerland home and is steeped in tradition that is not to be tampered with. We open stockings first. Then comes breakfast - during which the Christmas story is read - followed by the grand finale of opening the gifts under the Christmas tree. I could hardly wait for our eighteen-month-old grandson to open the presents we had so carefully chosen, purchased and wrapped for him this year. Justus quickly got the hang of opening gifts as he happily ripped off the brightly colored paper covering his new fire truck. And then it happened. Justus immediately sat down and began to play with the truck - which is the whole point - right? No! There were more gifts for him under the tree. In fact, the fire truck was the smallest and least expensive toy we had purchased. It didn't matter. Justus was happy with one gift. He had no idea what was waiting for him under that tree. In fact, he did not even open all of his gifts on Christmas morning. His very wise mother said, "Let's save a couple of gifts for him to open later this week." What? Was she kidding me? Nope! Those unopened boxes sat under the tree for days. It just about drove me crazy! I knew what was in each box. I also knew Justus was going to love each gift. But he is just a baby. He didn't realize that all he had to do was ask and those gifts would be opened in a flash.
One morning, as I walked by the Christmas tree and saw the unopened gifts, the Father whispered, "Mary, you know I want to bless you. Why won't you ask?" My thoughts immediately went to a story I often tell when I speak at conferences.
A man died and went to heaven. He was met at the pearly gates by Saint Peter who offered to show him the home God had prepared for him. The man's excitement grew as he and Saint Peter passed a street lined with beautiful mansions - but they did not stop. The man was still enthusiastic as he and Saint Peter walked by a street lined with smaller but still lovely houses, but they did not stop. The man began to wonder just what kind of home was waiting for him when Saint Peter stopped in front of an attractive but tiny house. "This is your home," Peter explained. Even though it was not a spectacular mansion or magnificent house, the man was thrilled. After all, the little house was in Heaven.
The man's excitement faded as he opened the front door of his heavenly home. Instead of beautifully furnished rooms, he saw stacks of unopened boxes. In fact, every room was filled with boxes stacked from the ceiling to the floor. When the man asked Saint Peter what was inside the boxes, Peter smiled sadly and said, "These are the gifts and blessings God had for you on earth" The now very confused man responded, "Why didn't He send them to me?" Saint Peter smiled sadly and said, "Because you never asked."
I want every blessing God has for me. I know you feel the same way. God is not a heavenly vending machine that dispenses blessings simply because we want them. Every promise of God is accompanied by at least one condition we must meet in order to experience the blessing of God. That condition is always rooted in obedience to Him.
1 John 3:21-23 "Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us" (NIV).
When we have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and seek to obey His commands, we can come before God in confidence, knowing that He wants to pour out His blessings on our life. He is waiting. We just need to ask.
Let's Pray
Father, thank You for loving me. Please help me walk in obedience to Your commands and live my life in a way that pleases You. I really do want to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus Christ. Right now, I surrender all that I am to You and ask for Your blessings in my life.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.  
Now It's Your Turn
·         Read Psalm 51:10. How is a clean heart related to the blessings of God?
·         Focus on the blessings God has already given you and praise Him for each one.
·         Read Proverbs 21:2. "A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart."How does this verse apply to the blessings of God in your life?
More From The Girlfriends
One of my problems with asking God to bless my life is that I don't think I deserve His blessings. I really don't ... and neither do you. God's blessings are not based on who we are or what we deserve. I am so glad! God's blessings are unmerited gifts that are backed by the honor of His name. God loves you and wants to bless your life. Just ask.

Ok, so it makes me sad as to how much God wants to bless us and I am sure a lot of the time we miss out on so much because we either don't ask or we don't want to live in obedience to Him and so we never receive those blessings. Or, we really don't think we should ask because we are unworthy.  Yes, we are undeserving, but GOD LOVES you and me so much.  Think of how much you love your kids and how no matter what they ever did or said, you would do anything for them! I would literally jump in front of a bus to save any one of my kids and I would do the same for Brent.  We just love those silly, smelly, snotty kids!  And God is the ultimate parent and so think of how much MORE He loves you and me.  He WANTS to bless us!

I really don't want to get to heaven and have a house full of boxes!  I feel like that is what we are living in now here as we are renting someone else's house for 3 more months.  I am counting on heaven being way better than this house full of thrown together boxes of our "junk."  :)

So what do we do?  Do we ask for things that we want from God all the time?  I feel that I already do that...my prayers are sometime like this, "Pray for the people with cancer that you would heal them, if that's in your will.  Help us to have a restful night sleep and a good day tomorrow. Continue to guide and direct us and give us wisdom.  Thank you for all you have blessed us with and continue to take care of us."

Maybe my prayers should change.  I know they should.  I know I need to make more lists of all of who God is -- to stand back in awe of Him as creator and sustainer of everything.  I need lists of all the "things" that I have.  These are good things, but I think here is one key point:  if we are seeking God and constantly asking Him to mold us into more like Him, then His will becomes our will.  So maybe the first thing to start asking for is God's will in your life.

I never once imagined that 6 months ago our lives were about to drastically change.  But Brent and my prayer had been that "we would do your will, God." I truly don't think I would be sitting here in this foreign land in Washington if I wasn't a Christian.  I would be doing what I wanted and living my life for me.  But I have chosen differently.  I have chosen God as LORD of my life.  I serve no one but God.  Many people questioned why we would move so far away from everything we knew and loved.  My simple response, "God wants us to, and we serve God so we will go."  Is it easy?  NO!  This is the hardest thing we have ever done!  Have we received blessings for our obedience?  YES, we have.

I often think of what would have happened if we didn't move.  If we didn't obey God and continued our "comfortable" life.  I don't know...but we didn't want to take a chance and act selfishly.  God is all-knowing, all-wise, and all-everything.  He knows much more what He wants of us and who He wants us to become than we ever could.  Brent and I are choosing to make God's will our will and live in obedience.  Will we have an easy life?  No, it's probably harder than if we did whatever we wanted.   But I would rather try and do what God wants me to do than not.  What is God calling you to do today?  What blessings are you missing out on? I encourage you to ASK God His will for your life, whatever that may be.  Our 5-year-old is praying that prayer already...for God's will to be revealed to him.  Take a leap of faith and trust the One who knows you and loves you more than anyone or anything else!

Sorry, I am not sure if what my devo talked about really went with what I just spouted out.  But that is me...kind of scatter-brained when trying to get out my thoughts.  I wrote from my heart. Let me know what's on yours.  :)