WHERE OTHERS CAN'T, YOU CAN - Ask, seek, knock

Before you kneel down to pray, please always remember that GOD does not make chairs, tables, wardrobes and books. He gave us trees and brains so that we can think and make those things ourselves. Whatever GOD gives you, think of things you can make out of it that will benefit you, your loved ones, your friends and your enemies.

  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (NKJV) Mathew 7:7. 

So many people do not receive because they do not ask. There is a great number of people who find because they seek. Numerous people have had doors of happiness, wealth, love, good relationships, forgiveness, revelation, righteousness, to mention but a few, opened to them because they knocked. Here we are, asking, seeking and knocking. But, how should we ask? How should we seek? How should we knock? 

Before providing answers to these questions, let me tell you a short story: James, Tom and Peter were 'A' Level students all in the same maths class. They all wanted to pass mathematics with grade A. James was a very committed christian so he prayed to God every day asking Him to help him in his studies so that he could understand everything in the maths syllabus and pass mathematics with an A. He also studied hard, troubled his teacher with questions and worked out problems in past exam papers and gave the answer sheets to the teacher for marking. Every night before he slept, he said his prayer relaxed in bed and started visualizing himself holding a results slip with an A in maths. 

Tom was neither a christian nor a musilim. He did not believe in God, but he also wanted to get an A in mathematics. He, like James, studied hard, troubled the teacher with questions and worked out problems in past exam papers and gave the answer sheets to the teacher for marking. Many times he sought assistance from James. Every morning, before getting out of  bed, he relaxed and allowed himself to see with the eyes of his imagination, himself jumping, screaming and ululating whilst holding a results slip with an A in maths. 

Peter was a devoted christian. He prayed so many times, day and night, asking God to give him an A in mathematics. Unlike Tom and James, he never bothered reading books, preparing for the examination or making friends with past exam papers. He never visualized himself holding a results slip and he never bothered his teacher with questions. 

Examination day arrived and all three students sat for the maths exam. When the results came out, James had an A, Tom had an A and Peter had an F. Thus, Peter did not only fail to get an A, but he dismally failed mathematics. Why did James get an A? James had a strong desire for an A. James asked for an A. He sought for an A. James believed he would get an A and he got it. Thus James asked and it was given to him; he sought and found; and he knocked and the door was opened to him. He went to university and studied accountancy. He is now a qualified chartered accountant. 

Why did Tom get an A? Tom had a strong desire for an A. Tom asked for an A. (I shall explain how.) He sought for an A. Tom believed he would get an A and he got it. Thus Tom asked and it was given to him; he sought and found; and he knocked and the door was opened to him. He went to university and studied medicine. He is an a specialist in cardiac surgery. I am still trying to find out where Peter is now. Some told me he tried bus driving and failed, then tried business and failed. Others are saying he is a vagrant. 

Before asking for something from God, you have to think about that thing. You can't ask for money before you think about money. By repeatedly thinking about something day and night,  you unconsciously ask for that thing from God. That's how Tom asked for an A from God. On the other hand, that's also how we ask for problems in our lives. I burn my finger whilst preparing breakfast in the morning. On my way to work, I fall off my bicycle. The bicycle gets a puncture and I am late for work. The whole day is full of problems, troubles and accidents. Why? It's because of thoughts. If I keep on thinking about the burned finger, another problem comes, I think about it and another one comes. By keeping on thinking about bad things, we attract more bad things, and by keeping on thinking about positive things, we attract more positive things. Thus, all asking begins before we know we are asking. 

Much of the asking we do, we do it unconsciously, because we do not control our minds. If you control your mind to think positively all the time, you ask for positive things all the time and attract positive things all the time. That helps explain why a person thinking about debt fails to see a twenty pound note lying on the ground waiting to be picked up by a person who is thinking about winning the euromillions jackpot. What most people do not know is when they pray to God today, their minds may have prayed yesterday or months before. That may help explain why sometimes you pray for something to happen now and it happens. 

Many times our thoughts ask for something from God but we do not kneel down and pray asking for that thing. When it happens or comes to us we may be surprised and say it's a miracle. Tom never knelt down and prayed to God. He even did not believe there was a God, but his thoughts prayed to God for an A and he got it. Up to this time, Tom does not even know that he prayed for that A. 

By keeping on thinking about getting an A in maths, he prayed for an A, but there are many more things he did that made his prayer strong and answerable.  These unconscious prayers that our thoughts make are also responsible for canceling what we consciously ask for. How? Lets say you pray daily for an A in maths as Peter did, but you always think that you can't get an A. You think: Mathematics is a tough subject. An A is difficult to get. If I pass I may get a B or C. Your mind is not praying for an A, it is praying to God to make mathematics tough for you and to make it impossible for you to get an A. 

Moreover, your negative thoughts may discourage you from working hard When you get a D you will complain: “But I asked for an A.” You consciously asked for an A, but because you did not control your thoughts or fine-tune your mind to ask for an A whenever it thought about mathematics, you strongly but unconsciously asked for a D. This explains why almost all psychologists preach about let go. There are so many books written about let go. It helps in preventing your mind from asking for the opposite and in avoiding negativity. Furthermore, let go prevents your thoughts from diluting or even rubbing off your faith. When you consciously ask for something, you ask for a thing you want. So, first of all, you must know what you really want. If it's an A in maths, its an A, not B, not C, not D, and not E or F. You must then have a strong desire for that thing you want. Have a strong desire for that A. Do not say to yourself: “Oh! But a B or C will do.” You must have a strong desire for that A by thinking about getting an A and all the good and/or positive things about getting an A in maths. Tell yourself: “No matter what happens, I will get that A.” By so doing, that is to say, strongly desiring the thing you want and thinking about all the good and positive things about it, your thoughts have asked for it from God before you kneel down and pray. 

The next step after knowing what you really want, strongly desiring what you really want and controlling your thoughts to think only positively about what you really want, is to kneel down and ask for that thing from God. Pray for it everyday  before you go to bed and every morning soon after waking up or in the shower. After every prayer, let go until the next prayer time to avoid negativity and to allow God to pave the way for the attainment of your goal. “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?” (NKJV) Mathew 7: 9,10. From these two verses, it can be deduced that God will give you whatever you ask for. If today you ask for an A in maths, tomorrow you ask for a C or better, and then ask for an A, what do you want God to give you? What do you really want from God? If you want an A, pray for an A with unwavering faith. If it's a B, pray for a B with unwavering faith. If you really want a C, pray for a C with unwavering faith. You will get what you want. 

God operates differently from the way we negotiate in business. In business you may say this book costs ten pounds when you know for sure that its real market value is six pounds. If the customer is a good negotiator, s/he will get it for six pounds or less, but if s/he is a bad one s/he will get it for more than six pounds. That's business. It's totally different from asking for what we want from God. With God, if you really want or strongly desire six pounds, you ask for six pounds and you will get it. Sometimes you do not ask for the things you strongly desire in your life because you have an inferiority complex. You say to yourself: “I strongly desire to become a medical doctor when I grow up, but I think I will become a nurse. I don't think I will be able to have enough grades for studying medicine at university.” Why do you allow your thoughts to think of becoming a nurse when you know for sure that you strongly  desire to become a medical doctor. In this situation, when you become a nurse you start telling people: “God did not give me what I asked for. I asked to become a doctor but I am now a nurse.” You asked to become a nurse not a doctor. Now if you ask Him you will become a doctor. 

So many times, you think you do not deserve certain things from God. Your mind keeps on telling you: “You do not deserve to win the seven million lottery jackpot.” Why? Who deserves then? If you don't control your mind, you may never buy lottery tickets thinking that you do not deserve to win, or you may lose for the rest of your life. Everyone deserves to win. You deserve to win and I deserve to win. You deserve to get everything you ask for from God and you deserve to get everything your heart desires. 

A lot of people think that God has limited powers. They think that He can't cure their illnesses. God has all the powers to cure, heal and treat. If you strongly desire to be healed, think positively about being healed and strongly believe you are healed, you will be healed. 

You don't have to have negative thoughts about being healed like some blind men who think if they get healed they won't burg again and nobody would give them money. Be positive and you will attract positive things. Think positively about anything you desire, and by so doing, you are asking for it from God and attracting it to you. God is always there to give you a big fish whenever you ask for a fish, and to give you a big loaf of bread whenever you ask for bread. Avoid unconsciously asking for a serpent, by strongly desiring a fish, always thinking positively about getting a fish, visualizing yourself holding the big fish and believing that the fish has already been given to you. In 1 Samuel 1: 1-28, Hannah strongly desired a child that she expressed it through grief, weeping and bitterness. She asked God for a son and she was given. You can read the whole story  for yourself. Emotions play a very crucial part in our desire, asking and belief. 

You may want something so badly that you cry when you think about it. Sometimes you may smile or laugh whenever you think about that thing you strongly desire. Haven't you ever seen someone punch a wall or a tree with a fist just because they strongly desire something? These emotions are the fuel for asking and attracting what we strongly desire. Yes, we are here now, strongly desiring something to the extent of smiling or even laughing whenever we think about it and everything positive about it. We have knelt down in prayer and asked for what we really want from God. What should we do next? You have to believe that you have already received the thing you asked for. How do we believe? How can faith be invigorated? These and many more questions you may have are answered in chapter 2.

 Our thoughts can either attract or repel our desires. They can ask for things from God before we do. They can ask for a stone whilst we are asking for bread. They can ask for a serpent whilst we are asking for a fish. Sometimes our thoughts can ask for an A in maths whilst we are asking for a C and we say it's a miracle. It is therefore, very important to control our thoughts so that what we ask for from God, our thoughts will continually ask for the same thing not the opposite. 

To stay positive, always force yourself to think about positive things. Positive things that have happened today. Positive things that happened in your past. This makes you attract positive things in your life now. To attract small and big miracles in your life, always think  about miraculous things that happened to you today or sometime in the past. May be on your way to school you found a five pound note lying on the ground waiting for you to pick it up and spend it, or you totalized the the maths test. Think about the positive things these small miracles have brought to you. Hear your friends calling you a genius or mentally enjoy those sweets you bought with your five pound note. You know what, by so doing, you are attracting more money to yourself. You are attracting an A in maths. You are also attracting various small and big miracles in your life. Keep on thinking about these miracles and many more bigger ones will come to you. So many people ask: “How can I be happy. I need someone who can make me happy.” You know what, if you can't make yourself happy, nobody else can. 

You are the only one who can make yourself feel happy. How? Everyone has had happy times in their lives. If you always think positively about happy moments you had today or you have had any time in the past even sixty years ago, you always smile, you always laugh and you attract happiness. You are now happy. Try it from now. I promise you that from now, if you do this, you will always be happy, you will always have what you ask for from God and miracles will always happen to you. You can also control your thoughts through meditation. There are so many psychology and life coaching books with a lot of detailed information about meditation and its positive benefits. Control your thoughts all the time. “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. “And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked Him.”  (NKJV) 1 John 5 : 14,15. 

So many people do not receive what they ask for, because they ask amiss. You hear someone talking about praying for someone else's death. Asking God to kill someone or make someone ill is not asking according to God's will. What happens in most of such cases is if you ask God to kill your neighbour, friend or enemy, your very close beloved relative dies. Whenever you ask God to make your neighbour, friend or enemy ill, you, your husband or your child becomes ill. Why? By asking God to kill someone, you always think of death, therefore you attract death. By asking God to make someone ill, you always think of illness, therefore, you attract illness into your family. These bad things you attract may also spread to your friends and close relatives. This explains why most people do not want to socialise with people who always talk about problems, misfortunes and bad luck. They know that those people always think about these negative things and the same negative things may also spread to them because their own thoughts are being forced to think about them many more times than before. 

Instead of asking God to make someone ill, why don't you pray for healing. Pray to God that your neighbour, friend or enemy be healed. By so doing, you always think about healing and you attract healing. Therefore, you, your family, close friends and relatives will be healed, too. If you want to put this into practice, you should silently pray for the healing of any sick, ill, injured or disabled person you meet or see on telly. Once you start doing this, also allow yourself to think about all the positive things about being healed. By so doing, you are controlling your thoughts to always think about healing and all the good and positive benefits of healing. Thus you attract healing and become healed. So don't be selfish. If you want to be healed, always pray for others to be healed and you will be healed.  Instead of asking God to make my children fail at school, why don't you pray for my children to have A grades in their GCSEs?. If you keep on praying for them to fail, you force your thoughts to think about failure most of the time resulting in you attracting failure into your family. You will start to notice yourself, your husband, your children and your very close relatives and friends failing dismally in whatever they try to do. As for me and my family, we excel in whatever we do because we pray for you to do likewise. That's why Jesus Christ said: “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (NKJV) Mathew 5: 44,45. Jesus was well aware of the fact that we always love our friends, but if we love our enemies as well, our minds will be much more occupied with thoughts of love than ever before thereby attracting more love to us. 

Through blessing those who curse you, you think of blessings most of the time and you attract blessings from God. By doing good to those who hate you, you are increasing the amount of good things you do and the number of good things you think about. We always do good to our friends, but if you do good to your enemy much more good things will come to you than before. Try it from now. Why are you surprised when you see people who do not even believe there is God enjoy good health, happiness and excel in life. They always strongly desire and think positively about good health, happiness and success. They also wish you could be successful, too. If you ask them, they will tell you that they always think about the positive things that could happen to you if you were enjoying good health.  God loves us all, hence we all love him. Even those who do not believe there is God, you hear them exclaim: “Oh! My God!” or “Oh! Jesus!” Their thoughts know and believe God is there but they are not conscious of it or they just do not want to accept it. They unconsciously pray to God and some of them have more unwavering faith in Him than devoted christians. 

God loves His enemies. His sun rises on the evil and on the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust. That explains why murderers, thieves, prostitutes, to mention but three, are breathing in the same free oxygen that devoted christians breath in and breathing out carbon dioxide up to this day. If you pray for something bad to happen to them, you are praying against God's will and your prayer will not be answered. Instead, the bad, negative and evil things you want to happen to them will happen to you and/or your loved ones. Why can't you just love them, bless them and do good to them? By so doing, you have forgiven them and you will be forgiven, too. “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (NKJV) Mathew 7: 12. Why do you want people to love you when you don't love them? Why do you want people to pray for you when you don't pray for them? Why do you want people to make you happy when you can't even make yourself happy? If you want me to give you this book for free, why don't you give me your money for free? 

Whenever you kneel down and pray, you should always remember that if you pray to God asking Him to make someone do something for you or give you something, you must also do something good for them or give them something that makes them feel happy. If you closely analyse the lives of those people said to be very lucky in their lives, you will find out that they do a lot of good things to other people without asking to be paid  back. They do it for free. If we ask anything according to God's will, he hears us. 

Never ask for anything that is not according to God's will because that will backfire. Thus, never ask for negative and evil things from God thinking those things will happen to somebody not you. You will be surprised when those negative and/or evil things happen to you or your loved ones mainly because your thoughts always ask for them and always attract them to you. 

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you and do good to those who hate you, because through doing this you attract love, blessings and good things from God. If you want someone to do something good for you, you should also do good things to them so that you can always think of good things and attract good things. Always remember to control your thoughts because they can ask for opposite things through doubt, negativity and lack of trust in God's powers and bar you from attaining your goals. Remember to think positively all the time so that you may always attract positive things in your life. Never ask amiss.