ASK! (Zechariah 10:1)

Jesus taught His Disciples a principle in the Scriptures: “Ask, and it shall be given unto you…”, He taught (Matthew 7:7). He went on to confirm this in the next verse: “For everyone who asks receives…”

To explain Himself better, He goes on to make an analogy of the relationship between a father and his son. He said: “Who among you would HIS SON ask him for bread and would give him a stone? Or he asks for fish and would give him a serpent?” (Matthew 7:9-10).

Jesus was basically making the disciples understand that the relationship between God and us is like the relationship between a man and his son. We love our children naturally, we go out of our ways to do stuff for them to make them happy.

We buy them gifts on their birthdays, we take them on outings to the zoo, amusement parks, we go swimming and shopping with them- all these are activities to make them happy.

So is our relationship with God our FATHER.

But here’s the thing: if the same son who asked for bread and fish (and you gave him without batting an eyelid!) asks you for a car, chances are you will not oblige him!

Why?

BECAUSE HE CANNOT HANDLE IT. The car is beyond what his level of responsibility can manage. So, inasmuch as I will buy ice-cream for my son if he asks for it, I will definitely NOT buy him a car if he asks! The point here is, there’s a degree of MATURITY and RESPONSIBILITY I must see in my son before I will buy him a car.

Same with God.

This is why James wrote: “You ask, but receive not BECAUSE YOU ASK AMISS…” (James 4:3). You ask for the wrong reason. Or the wrong TIMING.

There is a TIMING to everything…

If my 10 year old son asks me for a car, I will be a very irresponsible father to buy him one. But if my 23 year old son asks for one, chances are I would buy it for him.

Now, Prophet Zechariah says, “Ask of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain; so the Lord shall make bright clouds and give showers of rain to every grass in the field” (Zechariah 10;1).

Let’s break this down:

ASK THE LORD FOR RAIN, the Prophet said. Just as Jesus said in the Book of Matthew (Ask and it shall be given unto you…). The first thing is to ASK! Open your mouth and ASK!

IN THE TIME OF THE LATTER RAIN, he continued. This suggests the ASKING has to be in tune with the RIGHT TIME! Just as I explained earlier with the 10 year old son asking for a car, we can ask for the RIGHT THING at the WRONG TIME (or as James wrote, wrong MOTIVE!).

SO THE LORD SHALL MAKE BRIGHT CLOUDS, Zechariah added. In other words, God will go out of His way to create an enabling and conducive environment for the things asked for (SHOWERS OF RAIN). He will turn situations and circumstances around to make the things asked for to happen. SHOWERS here signify an ABUNDANCE of provision, much more than what was asked. An example is Joseph the Slave, who became Joseph the Prisoner. He wanted out of the Prison, but if he had been released earlier he probably would have been restored to slavery. But when God made “BRIGHT CLOUDS” (Pharaoh had a dream and he was the only person that could interpret it) for him, he got “SHOWERS OF RAIN”: he was released from Prison to a much higher position, beyond his wildest imagination.

EVERY GRASS IN THE FIELD, the Prophet concluded. This is the clincher: the grass is IN THE FIELD! It is not idle, it is not sleeping, it is not jobless! It is BUSY!

So, when we ASK the Lord for RAIN, we have to be conscious that the TIMING is RIGHT, so God could make situations and circumstances work in favour of the request, then He will send the SHOWERS OF RAIN, doing much more than we asked (good measure, pressed down and running over). But we have to be IN THE FIELD to receive the rain: rain doe not fall on any grass that is inside. Any grass that is to receive showers of rain has to be in the field!

Shalom,

Haruna Daniels.