Youtube: How To Ask God For Help
Audio: How To Ask God For Help
J Douglas Bottorff
“Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:9
This passage could be summarized like this: God doesn’t give us things we do not ask for. So why is it that we sometimes pray for one thing and get its apparent opposite? Is God playing games, testing us like Job to see how we hold up under pressure? Or, is there something to the observation of James who suggests that prayers are not answered because the one praying is praying amiss?
A standard guitar has six strings. When all six strings are in tune, a strummed chord will produce a pleasant sound. If even one string is out of tune, you can hold the right chord and strum correctly, but the sound will be unpleasant. The sound you get is based on a predictable set of principles that will always give you the same result when you comply with the governing rules.
If we assume that Jesus is articulating a spiritual principle, then we also have to assume that our mixed results stem from our mixed asking. If you pray for a solution then rack your brain trying to come up with the answer, you have a string out of tune. If you pray for a solution expecting it to unfold in perfect order, all your strings are tuned and you synchronize yourself with the creative manifestation process.
The whole state of mind from which you ask, like the six strings of a guitar, produces a vibration that is either in tune or out of tune with the manifestation process. If you pray from a consciousness of doubt and fear, you will tend to create material conditions that support your doubts and fears. This is why Jesus said we must believe in our heart when we pray.
God does not give us things we do not ask for. Tune your whole being to the solution you seek, and it will come forth.
J Douglas Bottorff 
I live alone and have no handy friends. I do not freak out when an accident happens. I usually start thinking of what I must do to get help or clean up the mess. Late last night, I managed to break the drain mechanism of my bathroom sink. It was in the closed position, and I could not pry it up, making the sink unusable. Without going into detail about the collateral problems this presented for me, I saw my whole week disrupted while I tried to get a plumber to come over. Wide awake, I went to bed anyway and tried to rest. About 4 am, I got the idea to use a strong magnet to raise the drain plug. To my surprise, it worked! Though I may eventually have to replace the broken fixture, I now have and open drain that only needs a little rubber plug to make it usable.
Clarity often comes when we let things go. I too get practical solutions to these kinds of problems in the night. Thanks for sharing. You may have helped someone else with their drain. I certainly wouldn’t have thought of a magnet, at least not right off.