Planning 101: Courage to Ask

“If you are at a hard place in life, hesitant to ask for help, God invites you to ask Him so He can meet your need.” 

David Jeremiah

“Courage, dear heart.”

C. S. Lewis

²⁵ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? ²⁶ Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? ²⁷ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

Matthew 6:25-27

Prayer over Worry

Have you ever taken on an assignment or project and realized that it was too big for you? Did you ask for help or just struggle along? What if the right person asked what you needed? What would you say?

Too often we say nothing. Whether it’s because we are too stubborn and independent to admit we need help or because we are too shy and nervous, our first response is often to pretend we don’t need anything. Just this morning I was reviewing a litany of problem that was beyond my ability to solve when I stopped for my daily Bible reading: Matthew 6:25-27. Basically, it says don’t worry just pray. The truth is we all have needs, but we also have a God who wants to meet those needs.

Then the king said unto me, For what dost thou make request? So I prayed to the God of heaven.

Nehemiah 2:4

Nehemiah faced far greater challenges than I do. The city gates and the walls of Jerusalem were down, and his people were at risk. His first step was to pray and ask forgiveness. Then, he prayed for help (Prepare with Prayer). He had been praying for four months when the king saw that he was sad and asked what was wrong. Nehemiah could have said nothing, but instead he stopped and prayed for guidance.

In those four months of prayer, God had been setting the stage.  He had given Nehemiah access to the one person who could give him exactly what he needed to perform his God-given task. Wisely, Nehemiah stopped to pray before he made his requests, and I think we can all admit these four requests are good principles for even ordinary problems.

Permission

And I said unto the king, If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it.

Nehemiah 2:5

First, he asked the king’s permission to go and take care of the situation. Despite the phrase it’s easier to ask forgiveness than permission, when it comes to God-given tasks it is better to ask God’s permission first. Sometimes it also requires asking someone else in authority, which can seem daunting. “Courage, dear heart.”

Passage

Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;

Nehemiah 2:7

After the king gave his permission, Nehemiah asked for passage. He needed a way to travel to the location, which like in modern times required government approval. When I was to serve in Seoul, South Korea, I had to apply for a passport and a permit to work and live in Korea. Because of time constraints, I had to pray that all the paperwork would be approved in time for me to leave as scheduled. God worked it all out so that I had everything I needed, just like He did for Nehemiah.

Provisions

And a letter unto Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the palace which appertained to the house, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall enter into. And the king granted me, according to the good hand of my God upon me.

Nehemiah 2:8

Nehemiah also remembered to ask for the necessary materials to do the work since they wouldn’t be able to acquire them without permission besides the fact that they didn’t have any funding to purchase what was needed. Like Matthew 6 reminds us, God feeds and clothes the birds, and He will provide for us when we need it.

Protection

Then I came to the governors beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.

Nehemiah 2:9

One thing that Nehemiah doesn’t specifically ask for is protection, other than the letters from the king, but the king sent soldiers with him because he was a valued servant. God, Our Father, does the same for us because we are his beloved children. He never sends us out into the world unprotected. He even gives us spiritual armor (Ephesians 6).

Just Ask

When we are making plans for the year ahead, let’s make sure to ask for God’s guidance. Then, when we are sure of our assignments, let’s remember to ask for what we need:

• Permission
• Passage
• Provision
• Protection

Sometimes that will require us to ask others for help. When it does, just remember: “Courage, dear heart.”

What I’m Reading:

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