Ask and You Will Receive

“Ask and you will receive” may seem to be one of Jesus’s most extravagant promises. We have all asked and not received. To find out what Jesus actually meant, then, we have to answer a few questions: Who is asking? Where is the request going? Whom does it reach? For most people, the asking comes from the ego, with its unending stream of desires. The request is going out into empty space or to a vaguely remembered God from childhood. The receiver of the request is unknown.

What this means is that asking and receiving are disconnected. Indeed, they must be, because in everyday awareness the world is separate from us and fragmented into millions of isolated events. However, at a deeper level everything is unified and whole. When you ask for anything, the One is asking the One, God is asking God. And there is always a response.

Exercise
Learn to ask in a new way, by expecting every wish to bring a response. Take the attitude expressed by the Persian poet Rumi: “Ask all of yourself.” The mechanics of giving and receiving are inside you. Therefore, the next time you pray for something, or simply desire it, go through the following steps:

Express the desired outcome to yourself clearly.
Detach yourself from your request after you make it.
Take an undemanding attitude to the outcome.
Be open to whatever response the universe gives back.
Know that there is always a response.

In this case, “response” doesn’t mean a yes or no from God. There is no judge deciding whether you are worthy or not. Those perceptions were born of separation. When Jesus told his followers that God sees and knows everything, he was describing the complete intimacy between the self and the intelligence that pervades the universe. Since you could not exist without being part of that intelligence, praying to God is circular, a feedback loop.

Read more: Deepak Chopra's Tips, Exercises, Spirit, asking, receiving

Adapted from The Third Jesus, by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2008).

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Shirley A.

1:15PM PDT on Aug 14, 2012

I love it ... It is so True ask en You Will receive

August 14
send a green star

Ann B.

9:30AM PDT on Aug 14, 2012

thanks for posting this article

heather g.

1:41AM PDT on Aug 13, 2012

Yes, Deepak I know that we are all part of the world's intelligence.

Unfortunately, the person I am asking is not of this world's intelligence. The line is down....

August 13
send a green star

Norma V.

5:18AM PDT on Aug 12, 2012

Ask and ye shall receive...all for the higher good?

August 12
send a green star

Mari G.

7:45PM PDT on Aug 11, 2012

People need to realize that "god" or whatever you want to call it, is not a genie, he/she/it does not just grant wishes. They may open doors, but you must work for them and walk through the right ones.

August 11
send a green star

Ron G.

4:05PM PDT on Aug 11, 2012

it's interesting to read the comments of others here.But,do we REALLY realise just what prayer is? Do we understand that we are talking directly to our Creator,to the God Who created ALL things?...the ONLY one and true GOD? Do we REALLY understand what happens when we pray ? In the old testament,only God ordained priests were in direct contact with Him.How that has changed when when Jesus died to bcome our Saviour ! Just ordinary people such as we can now communicate DIRECTLY WITH GOD. God is a triune God..Father.Son and Holy spirit.The Holy Spirit presents our words to the Mediator who is Jesus Christ our Saviour ,the Son.It is through Him our words are presented to the Father.
It is not a process of human terms for The triune God is Spirit.It is ONLY through Jesus that we can approach the Father .But faith is paramount for without it we simply doubt God.WE must believe of Him and in Him.How wold we expect an answer from someone we don't even believe exists? How would we expect an answer from a person Who we espress as merely
a force of the universe? What is our motive for asking if we don't even believe we would get an answer ? We are told that .." if we have faith as large as the grain of mustard seed,we could ask a mountain to move from one place to another and..IT WOULD BE DONE !! "Surely then,that is demonstraive of how weak our faith really is. God ALWAYS answers genuine prayers of faith even if the answer is not what we want.

Lin M.

12:01PM PDT on Aug 11, 2012

I'm still waiting.

Heidi H.

1:47AM PDT on Aug 11, 2012

This is very reminiscent of two other thoughts I've heard. One was Abraham Hicks and the idea that if you ask for something the next thing you do is 'give it to the manager' and don't worry how it will happen, as the 'manager' will worry about the details.

The other quote I heard was from an Evangelist. He said he asked through prayer and then believed the seed was planted. As he put it, a farmer plants a seed and believes it will grow. The farmer doesn't dig up the see everyday to check it. He allows the growth to happen. You should ask and then leave the seed and wait for the crop.

These are lovely thoughts.