What God really means when He says "Ask and you shall receive."
By: Missionary Team
My younger brother and I were quite possibly the most prayerful people in my family. We would pray Rosary after Rosary, Chaplet after Chaplet and do it for specific intentions. We were taught that God will answer your prayers, all you have to do is ask.
Well, it was great that my brother and I prayed so much, but you would think that we would be praying for something useful, like maybe a job for our dad or siblings when they needed it, or when we were moving, prayers for a good house. Nope! Instead, we prayed that God would give us superpowers! I literally remember having a piece of paper with me that had the details of when we wanted the powers, what powers we wanted, and what our other capabilities were.
Crazy right? Well, we were dedicated to praying for powers and many other things that legit I blush when I think about how ridiculous we were. But the thing is, was God lying to us when He said ask and you shall receive?
What it really means and how it works
I prayed for unattainable things, things that would just make me better than everyone else. Things that wouldn't help me come closer to God. So when God says ask and you shall receive, He is telling us that we need only ask Him for what we need and if it brings us closer to Him, then indeed He will give it to us when the time is right.
I prayed at a point in time for a community. A community that was outside of my family, and that I could say I was happy to be with truly. Well that was when I was like 15, when I was almost 20, I came to Hard as Nails and boom, it happened! There was the community that I prayed for.
When my dad got a new job in Illinois, we moved from Michigan to Illinois, and finding a new house was next to impossible because of the taxes. God answered the prayers that my family and I had, which was for a big house with lots of property. (Keep in mind I come from a family of 10 kids, so a big house is super needed.)
My secret prayer, that no one knew about, was that when we moved to Illinois, I wanted a certain church to be our parish church, and I was pretty much the only one that wanted it to be the parish church. God heard my prayer and said sure thing here you go! God will indeed give to all who ask, it just sometimes takes a while. The only thing that you can do is persevere in your prayers and not give up. St. Monica prayed for like 30 freaking years for the conversion of St. Augustine.
God is super mysterious, but He will always follow through. I am still honest to goodness waiting to see if I will get superpowers; that would be lit!
