Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it. -Proverbs 22:6
~What if God appeared to you and asked you, “what is it that you want? Whatever it is I will give it to you.”
It seems too good to be true doesn’t it?
Well it’s not because nothing is too good when it comes to God as Father.
These are the very words God spoke to me. These are the words He dearly longs for all of His children to hear and believe.
Years ago, I was in worship at Bible college. I was up in the front (my usual, comfy spot) with my arms outstretched worshipping God. After services were over the Dean of Women (whom I’ll call Mattie for privacy purposes) came up to me. She had a bright smile that radiated in her light blue eyes. She gave the best “grandma-like hugs” and she embraced me. She giggled warmly as she spoke, “I heard the Father say, ‘ask what you will and He will do it for you.'”
My face was not as enthusiastic as her’s, but I did smile, “thank you.”
I tried to act friendly and excited but the truth was, I wasn’t.
Mattie was one of the kindest and most loving women that I had ever met. Because she was sooo sweet, I didn’t know if she was just trying to encourage me in the “flesh” rather than in the Spirit.
I walked to work afterwards…which was at the college’s ministry phone center. I walked past a Floor Leader desk and suddenly my husband turned around in his swivel chair. He looked at me, “The Lord say’s ‘ask what you will and He will give it to you.'”
I half-smiled and went to my desk, prepping myself to pray for the myriad of precious callers who would be buzzing the phone lines soon.
As I sat there in my chair, God’s request of me began to nudge on my heart.
Ask.
Questioning God’s goodness isn’t foreign to most believers that I’ve met. And I’ve met quite a few..both in person and over the phones or net. It’s an unbiblical, religious mindset that questions the goodness of God because everything about God is good. He is the most cheerful Giver you will ever meet. His very nature is Love and love always gives the best (with no selfish strings attached).
For years I grew up in church and heard the above scripture about training up a child in the way they should go. I was always taught that it meant training them up to fear and follow the Lord. As a result I threw away my goals and dreams in pursuit of serving Jesus through work that I was not passionate about. I was taught that, “whatever you really don’t want to do, will probably be the thing that God asks you to do. And you just need to suck it up buttercup because this life is all about death to self in order to please God.” (I confess there is some truth in dying to self but it wasn’t explained accurately to me for many years). It’s absolutely detrimental on so many levels how religion paints God.
Scripture gives so many examples of God blessing people above and beyond what they asked for. When God gives, it’s like a lavish party that never ends. Solomon asked for wisdom and God said, “I will give you what you asked for! …And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!” -1 Kings 3:12-13 NLT.
God’s answer to Jabez’s prayer is one of my personal favorites (you can find it in 1 Chronicles 4:10). I have personally prayed a similar prayer to this.
God made all the patriots of our faith (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) smashingly wealthy. I mean, over the top rich! They were so rich and famous that the nations around them were jealous but couldn’t do a thing because God’s favor surrounded them like a shield (just ask the Pharaoh who wanted to have Abraham’s wife whom he thought was his sister).
Years ago, I began to notice that Jesus never asked people what they needed from Him. He only asked them what they “wanted Him to do for them” (example: Mark 10:51). The Lord opened my eyes to this. Most people just asked for healing (and who can blame them?). But Jesus said, “your heavenly Father knows what you need already” (Mark 6:32). It was like He was inviting them to a feast they didn’t know existed. “Taste and see that I am good,” -Psalm 34:8.
C.S Lewis put this so eloquetly in his sermon “The Weight of Glory.” Here he writes the truth regarding most peoples poverty mindset when it comes to God’s infinite love and resources:
“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (26)
Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. -John 16:24 BSB.
I feel like I should give some personal examples now of how God has said “yes” to me:
- I asked Him to go to college but not ever have debt. So far I’ve been through roughly 9 years of college, vocational schools, certification programs, etc without debt and without government assistance.
- I asked Him that my first boyfriend would be my husband and that he would be a man who heard from God often…Stephen is just that and so much more! God knew what I wanted and needed.
- I asked to move to CO as a teenager because my two favorite Christian authors lived out there and because it just looked beautiful (not all my requests have been “spiritual.”), Years later I moved to CO for Bible college and didn’t even remember my earlier request as a teen until God reminded me. “You see Ashley? I give you good and perfect gifts.”
- I asked God for a baby and He enlarged my womb with life after personally speaking with my husband (who didn’t want a child at the time) that everything would be okay.
- I asked God to be able to start up my own preschool. I now have a home-based Christian school.
- I asked God to self-publish Visions of Celestial before Eden-Rain was born and start up Nourishment Through Words Press. He granted those requests.
- I asked God to move back home to California because I missed my family and the beach. A year or so later He again spoke to my husband, this time about moving, and now here we are.
- I asked God for money to be able to become a certified Christian Life Coach so that I could speak life and encouragement over others to follow their God-dreams. Father told me He would give me the money I needed and not to worry about it. He came through over and above the amount that I needed (which was a hefty amount).
- I asked God to not be a self-published author anymore but that i wanted to be a traditional-royalty based author. I began to pray to Him that He would connect me to a Christian publishing company that would be able to distribute my books to the masses. Just last week…He supernaturally gave me favor and my book has been picked up by a prestigious literary agency who want to present it to big publishers. I know this dream will come true also.
- I asked to see my brother this Christmas. He’s in the Navy and my heart has longed to see him personally. Later on today, my family and I will be going to AZ to meet him! Yay God.
- This list is exhaustless and could go on forever. So, I’ll stop here. I can’t help but smile and thank my Father.
You see, God as your Father has put certain passions, gifts, talents and desires in your heart. He’s not a tight-wad. You can ask Him and expect good things. They don’t even have to be spiritual things (I know I asked Him for chocolate cake on my 21st birthday and when I walked out my front door my neighbor who never spoke to me before had a table full of chocolate cake and said she wanted to share). God just delights in being good to you because He loves you. He has always loved you. He will always love you.
Please understand, asking God for things and expecting them, has got nothing to do with your goodness or holiness (at least not in your flesh)! Spiritually you were made the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21). When you accepted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, God made you a co-heir with Christ (Romans 8:17). He gave you a heavenly inheritance that manifest here and now on earth. “…The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” -Daniel 11:32.
God wants you to ask Him. Come to Him like a well-loved child (because you are) and make your requests known to Him. Then, trust Him by letting Him guide you through the process of stepping into the reality of your dreams. Submitting to His Lordship is not painful. Submitting to His Lordship is allowing Him to lead you into abundant life. Into a life that is far better than you can imagine. Trust His heart. He only wants good things for you.
I find it interesting that the next scripture that follows training up a child is this: the rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. -Proverbs 22:7.
I believe that when parents submit to God’s way of truly training their children up, that their children will flourish in life. And their children will live in great joy because this training will be tailored to their individual bent or talent. Meaning parents won’t squish their children’s dreams but help them discover their God-sized dream and encourage them in it. Their children will never be a servant to the lender. God as your Father never wants you to live in an impoverished state. In the Old Testament poverty was considered a curse. It’s not holy or good to be poor. If God doesn’t think it is, then I am confident in His opinion.
He wants you as His child to trust Him with the dreams in your heart, beleive Him through the process and experience His great goodness and ability in your life!
I pray that this blog post encouraged you to dream big and to run to the ever-open arms of your Father. I pray that you grow to trust God more for your life and that you walk in sensitivity with His Holy Spirit. He has glorious promises for you.
~If you need any prayer, encouragement and clarification on your God-dreams, I would love to help you on your journey! You can contact me for Life Coaching services! It’s absolute my pleasure to see you soar in the destiny that God has for you!
“I love you (Ashley) and I thank you because you’re the only one who stirs me up with my dream. God has ministered to me so many times! I think that those who truly pursue God’s dreams are few and far between. He gave me insight while I was singing with him that every single one of his children are supposed to be drenched in success and aiming high. God’s plans are no where near the standard that the average Christian has been walking in. It’s a beautiful thing and an awakening because he literally has an outstanding plan for everyone. If all of us would only tap into our skill sets and design, then we would all be hitting the nail on the head. Everyone’s glory was originally supposed to be huge! There is no mediocre lifestyle or money or love or blessing or talent or skill set or job in the body of Christ! We’re all the cream of the crop. Every single one of us but few of us believe and receive and tap into his mind. Few of us understand how huge God’s kingdom on earth is! I’m not waiting anymore. I’m running and I’m going to be diligent in what he asks me to do today! I’m going to believe it when he gives me insight about tomorrow! I will not waste my life away waiting.” -Chloe Lange, worshipper, wife, mother, Lioness Lips entrepreneur.
Love,
Your sister in Christ, Ashley xoxo
