Asking, receiving, and living faith_

Asking requires the muscle of faith. And like all muscles, it must be exercised to achieve full potential.

But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. ‭‭James‬ ‭1:5-8‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

This is not a mental game we play with God and faith, gauging if we are doubting or not, or measuring the faith we have as if the fulfillment of the request is within my power. It’s not. That’s why I ask the Father. He accomplishes it, not me. Yet, am I convinced that he loves me? The gift of his son’s life for mine should help with that. Does he hear me? Want nothing but good for me? He calls us children and a compassionate parent is always in earshot of his kids, looking out for their welfare. Does he want me to ask? The sheer volume of times Jesus told his disciples to ask should convince me of that. James makes it clear: “He gives generously without reproach” or without defamation, reviling, or insult. In other words, whatever you are asking, he will not minimize or dismiss, secretly laughing at how stupid it may seem. Quite the opposite. When your need speaks, he thoroughly cherishes the fact that you would come to him with it.

So the groundwork is laid: I must first believe that I may ask and he hears me. But it’s even more than that.

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself… (Speaking of Abraham) you see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected… For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James‬ ‭2:14-26‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

The natural outflowing of believing something, really believing it is true, is that you act on it. When the alarm goes off, you believe it’s time to get up for work. When a friend calls to meet you for coffee, you head to Starbucks at the time you agreed because you believe your friend will be there. When you cut your finger, you put a bandage on it and believe that given time your body will heal itself, so you do no more than protect it. The same is true of asking the Father for something. Internally, you must be convinced that He loves you and is trustworthy, but once you are, you act on it.

This is where we separate living faith from that which is dead. God is not Santa Clause for whom I make an absurd list of requests and plop it in a mailbox with the envelope addressed to the North Pole. Quite the contrary, He’s a living being whose Spirit is dwelling in my body. We know each other. It’s a real relationship with real communication. It’s not always with words. In fact, it seldom is. He is spirit and those that worship and speak with him do so in spirit. When teaching Sunday School to third graders I’d liken this spirit conversation to phone lines or cell signals. It’s our means of connecting. You can’t see them, but they are real, and you know it when someone picks up on the other end. So when asking Him for something, it’s a process. If I need or want something, obviously my desire is there, as well as the wishing that I have what I want. But the reality is that it is a request that I submit to him. And this is the key: at some point in that dialogue with my good Father, He gives my spirit the green light or asks me to let it go. It’s not about asking perfectly, or for the right thing, or for the right reason — it’s about desire expressed, with the knowledge He hears and responds. Hearing from Him is the key. And once I do, I may act on it as though it existed, even if I don’t see it.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval (through acting on their living faith). By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible. Hebrews‬ ‭11:1, 3‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬

I endeavor to take my faith out of “neutral” and shift it into gear. To actively trust in a living relationship with a living God. Asking, takes work. Connecting with my Father about my “ask” takes work. Then, once convinced, true faith results in work, or actions that synchronize with my belief. It’s time to grow up. To be the fruitful, and ask liberally and receive liberally.