Asking with Faith

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.”

– Luke 11:9

 

ASKING WITH FAITH

I remember sitting at my desk waiting for an answer. A few hours earlier, our chief accounting officer had told us that we were just hundreds of thousands of dollars from breaking our debt agreements. In effect, our $8 billion company was on the precipice of financial disaster. Six months earlier, I had been made the CFO of Foot Locker, inheriting responsibility for a company that was deeply in debt. Earlier in the day, I had called all our staff in for a meeting and asked if they could stay late that day, until we found a way to keep our company afloat. Not finding the means to do so would put the company into a cataclysmic spiral that would cost thousands their jobs and potentially result in a bankruptcy. We agreed that no one would go home until we came up with a solution.

It took hours, but finally, at 8:30 p.m. that night, our assistant treasurer and the chief accounting officer walked into my office, looking visibly relieved.

“We don’t know what you were so worried about,” they joked weakly. “We found some money in a long-forgotten utility deposit account.”

It was just enough to buy us another ninety days. But that was enough time to avoid the crisis, and we managed to use it to turn the company around. Two years later, we were praised in a Forbes magazine article for managing to make such a tremendous save.

JESUS AND ASKING

Jesus says all we have to do is ask. But there is more to it than just asking. We need to consider, Is what we are asking for the right thing? Are we willing to be patient and wait for God? Are we willing to put in the effort to search for the solution with Jesus? Jesus wants our participation. Once we ask, Jesus wants us to participate in searching for the answer, to take an active role in finding what we seek.

Often, we pray and ask for an answer. Many times, the answer doesn’t arrive on the timeline we’d like it to. Many times, the answer is different—but also better—than what we’d originally hoped for. Each time we ask for God’s help, we must be willing to work toward finding a solution by working with Jesus. This is God’s way. I remember sitting at my desk alone that evening at Foot Locker, calmly considering every possible solution. For hours, I could find no viable option. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a solution materialized.

“Each time we ask for God’s help, we must be willing to work toward finding a solution by working with Jesus.”

At times, the answer to our prayers comes through people or circumstances, but it can also come simply from a Bible verse. So, after we ask, we need to become aware of our surroundings. We need to search alongside Jesus for the answers we seek. But we also must be patient. Once we ask for God’s help, we must be willing to wait for the answer on God’s time. If our hearts are pure and we take an active role in seeking what we want or need of God, we will receive what we’ve asked for.

Blessings, until next time,
Bruce L. Hartman

 


PARTING THOUGHTS

Can we be patient in prayer?

Do we worry or stay calm after prayer?

How has God responded in the past?