Ask
Mt 6:8 "Therefore do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you have need of, before you ask Him."
Mt 7:7 "Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you."
Mt 7:11 "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him?"
Mt 18:19 "Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as regarding anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by My Father in Heaven."
Mt 21:22 "And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
Mark 11:24 "Therefore I say to you, All things, whatever you ask, praying, believe that you shall receive them, and it will be to you."
Luke 11:9 "And I say to you, Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you."
Luke 11:12-13 "Or if he shall ask for an egg, will he give him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"
John 11:22 "But I know that even now, whatever You will ask of God, God will give You."
John 14:13 "And whatever you may ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."
John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you."
John 16:19 Then Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and said to them, "Do you seek answers with one another concerning this, because I said, A little while and you shall not see Me; and again a little while, and you shall see Me?"
Which sets the stage for these follow-up verses:
John 16:23-24 "And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Truly, truly, I say to you, Whatever you shall ask the Father in My name, He will give you. Before now you have asked nothing in My name; ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full."
Prior to His death, He emphasized the prayer to God for answers. Then, facing his death, He directs the request to the Father be in His (Jesus') name. This indicates that we ask under His protection and under His authority. He stresses we must abide in Him, be in His "friends circle" so the requests will correspond with what the Lord wishes to give us to accomplish His will.
Asking, in itself, also deepens the relationship. We have to talk to Him to ask. It diminishes our pride by the fact that we MUST ask, even though He knows our wants and needs. It reminds us who rules and who serves. It underlines our need to spend time with Him, since that adds to the likelihood of our understanding what we need. Seen sometimes as a license for demand and greed, it actually reveals God's availability to us, His generosity and His desire that we should grow by service.
