“Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks will receive, and anyone who seeks will find, and the door will be opened to those who knock.” [Matthew 7:7, 8]

If this Bible text is true, then why do we still have wants and needs? Why are people still sick in the Hospitals? Why do people go hungry? Why are some people still homeless? Why are marriages falling apart? Why are some women still childless? Why are students failing in examinations? Why are some people still unemployed?… Is it that they are not asking? Is it that they are not seeking? Or maybe, they are not knocking hard enough?

A story is told of two men who both asked God for rain. One of them prepared his field to receive the rain, but the other only waited for God to send the rain. Which of the two men in your opinion trusted God to provide the rain, and if you were God, who would you give the rain?

We all know that when we need something, we ought to ask God for it, but what if just asking doesn’t cut it? What if there’s more to receiving from God than just making a request?

 Now, what I’m about to share with you is a spiritual Treasure-trove, a goldmine of everything you need: ‘How to Receive from God’.

STEP 1: Know What You Need

You need to know the difference between your wants and your needs in order to make a wise request. God gives us what we need and often ignores our wants. I want a G-Wagon to  cruise around town with my buddies, but what I actually need is a decent car to enable me go about my daily business; I want a ten (10) bedroom villa in Dubai, but what I really need is beautiful house in nice neighborhood to stay with my family; I might want a woman with a body like Princess Shyngles’, and a voice like Efya’s, but what I need is a God-fearing woman who understands and loves me for who I am.

What we want isn’t always the best for us. Most of them are pitfalls, and God know that. This is why he ignores our wants and gives us what we need instead. So, before you make your request, do an assessment, separate your needs from your wants and ask for what you need.

STEP 2: Ask Through Prayer

No one will ever give you anything if you don’t request or ask for it. The only things we receive without making requests are gifts, and even with these, you will have to do something; something that makes you worth it.

God knows what we need and is always ready to provide, but He still wants us to ask him for it. I guess He doesn’t want to come off as overbearing. How would you feel about a God, who keeps bombarding you with a lot of stuff you don’t think you need, and probably didn’t ask for? God is a gentleman; He’s always on standby, waiting for you to make your request, so go ahead, get down on your knees and ask Him.

STEP 3: Prepare Your Field to Receive

In the story in the second paragraph, two men asked God for rain, but then, only one prepared his field to receive the rain. Preparing your field while you wait for rain, is like buying things on credit with the hope that, somebody will give you money to pay for them. This is a risk no one will ever want to take. It takes a “big” heart and a great deal of trust, for someone to be able to offer him/herself for such a gamble. This is the kind of trust that God requires from us whenever we ask him for something. God will only give to those who trust he will give.

How then do you prepare your field to receive?

Preparing your field goes beyond just envisioning your needs being granted. You would have to keep asking every single day; in the morning before you start your day and at night before you retire. You keep asking and never tire until those needs are fully met. This will mean two things:

1. That you trust that God can provide your needs.
2. That you really need what you are asking for.

Preparing your field also means doing your best, and trying every pious way possible to meet your needs. It means learning adequately for that exam you are going to write, writing down your best in your nicest handwriting, not cheating in the exam and finally allowing God to do the rest.

STEP 4: Receive in Humility

Receiving in humility means appreciating it, no matter what it is or how small it may seem; and finally using it to help others, and not against them.

STEP 5: Be Thankful

How do you feel, when you give a friend a gift and he/she forgets to say thank you?… Bad right… very sad, you even regret giving them the gift and wish you could take it back. This is exactly how God feels when we are unthankful for the many things he gives us.

Everybody has a lot reasons to be thankful to God. I don’t care who you are or what you’re going through, but as long as you have life, you ought to be thankful. God gives and will always give to those who are thankful. Being aware and thankful for every little thing that God does for us, sort of puts us on God’s VIP list, so stop being regular like everybody else and be thankful; Be VIP.

Being thankful also means saying ‘Thank You’ for the bad you did not receive. Most often we thank God for the good we receive and forget to thank him for the bad we did not receive, we even curse him sometimes. But as Christians, we need to understand that, we sometimes don’t get what we ask because, God knows they will harm us. So please Dear friend, never get angry with God for not giving you what you ask for or for giving you what you never asked for. In all things, be thankful, because God knows what is best for you.

Shalom!