James 4:2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. (NIV)



6 Reasons We Don’t Ask God



1. Because God already knows my needs



Matthew 6:8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (NIV) 



John 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (NIV)



1a. You don’t believe God will help you



Mark 6:5–6 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. (NLT)



1b. Pride



2 Chronicles 16:12 In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. (NIV)



1c. Unworthy feelings 



Hebrews 4:15–16 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. (NLT)



1d. Disappointment



Luke 18:1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (NIV)



2. Asking is Biblical



Mark 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (NIV)



Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (NIV)



Matthew 7:11- If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (NIV)



Matthew 9:38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. (NIV)



Matthew 18:19 Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. (NIV)



Matthew 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. (NIV)



3. Ask with the right motives 



James 4:3-4 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 4 You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (NIV)



3A. Motived by selfishness and worldliness



3B. Motivated by your will



1 John 5:14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (NIV)



4. Ask with Faith



Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. (NIV) 



Hebrews 11:11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. (NIV)



Hebrews 11:29 By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. (NIV)



Matthew 9:2 Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” (NIV)



Matthew 9:22 Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment. (NIV)



Matthew 9:29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; (NIV)



Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment. (NIV).



Mark 10:52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. (NIV)



Acts 14:9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed (NIV)



REVIEW:



1. You don’t receive a miracle because you don’t ask God



1a. God already knows my needs
1b. You don’t believe God will help you
1c. Pride
1d. Unworthy feelings
1e. Disappointment



2. Asking is biblical



3. Ask with the right motives 



4. Ask with faith