‘Ask and you shall receive’ (John 16:24)

These are the words of Jesus. He addresses them to us this morning. They suppose want, and inability to supply ourselves. They intimate that provision is made and may be obtained. They invite us to ask with confidence, assuring us that we shall receive.

Jesus has a boundless fullness of blessings, and a loving tender heart to bestow them. He will supply all our needs. Therefore, do not let want lead you to despondency; instead, look to Jesus. He has, He gives, and He tells you to ask and receive. Can any terms be more easy, more suitable, more encouraging than these?

But ask in faith, believing because Jesus has promised; ask with sincerity, as though you value the blessings; ask with persistence; go to Jesus for all you want; make everything a matter of prayer; in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Do not doubt, for His word is plain; He is full of compassion; He waits to be gracious; and He has thousands of witnesses to demonstrate His faithfulness, veracity, and love. Look to the generations of old. Did any ever seek the Lord in vain? No: every one that asked, received.

My soul, ask what thou wilt,
Thou canst not be too bold,
Since His own blood for thee He spilt,
What else can He withhold!

THE DAILY REMEMBRANCER by James Smith (1802-1862)

Journal Jottings

‘I have been favoured with a sweet view of Jesus, as bearing the iniquity of our holy things represented by the priest of old, in Exodus 28. O what a mercy that all my coldness, deadness, and wanderings in prayer – that all my sinful, vain, and foolish thoughts, while reading God’s holy word – and that all roving imaginations, sinful propensities, and base inclinations in ordinances, with all my omissions of the same, are transferred to Jesus, are borne by him, and that he has made an atonement for them all’.