April 26, 2015
Friday afternoon there was a wedding in our church building. A young couple from China asked me to marry them and I told them they could use our church building if they wanted to get married here. They did have the wedding here and the reception was here too.
Since I officiated at the wedding (much more of an honor in the Chinese community than in American weddings) I stayed for the meal. (In the spirit of full disclosure, the food was exceptionally great!) After the meal, the group did a lot of things focused on the new bride and groom. (This was a very “Chinese wedding” thing to do.) One part of the activities after the meal was a slide show of the couple followed by the groom singing a song to his new bride. Although it was all in Chinese (and I did not understand much of what was said) I could tell that part of the slide show was Qing (the groom) asking Mingyi to marry him. He was pictured down on one knee, looking up at Mingyi and the next picture showed Qing jumping in the air with his arms raised in triumph and joy. Obviously Mingyi said “YES.”
Reading Ruth chapter 3 and thinking about what I should say about this chapter, “asking” is at the center of what happened. Naomi leads Ruth to make a very elaborate “ask.” But asking is not just in the book of Ruth, it is all over the scripture. Yes, at times God acts on His own initiative and according to His intention. But, there are also MANY times when His people ask – just read the Psalms (Israel’s prayer and hymn book).
Jesus left us no doubt about the validity of asking. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8). Paul said “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6). James said “You do not have, because you do not ask God” (James 4:3). Hebrews says “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb 4:16).
Some of us might be shy to ask, but the Bible’s invitation to approach God and ask for what we need is clear. Is our request too small for God’s interest? NO, not because our requests are all that important compared to the running of the universe, but because of God’s GRACE. His grace invites us to ASK.
How comfortable are you in asking God? He has opened the door for us, will we respond to His invitation?
