Earlier this year, my old printer started doing strange things. It would skip pages—print pages 1,2,27,15 and then pop out an extra sheet of page 2. Or maybe page 3. It was driving me crazy. One night I stayed up until midnight trying to copy a 150-page project that should have taken 10 minutes. Important documents for work would be ready to mail before I happened to notice one of the pages was missing. Not good. My computer-guru son-in-law couldn’t fix it and suggested it was time for an upgrade.
It seemed prudent to replace the aging fax machine at the same time and add a better copier—something I’d been drooling over for a long time. A multi-purpose scanner, copier, photo printer, printer and fax machine was the perfect choice. It’s convenient and takes up less space on my desk than the older models. But it’s not without issues.
One day I received a huge bill from the drug store. Obviously they had neglected to bill the insurance company. It took several phone calls to reach the right person at the pharmacy and she agreed to fax a form that needed my signature. She was going on vacation and needed it before the end of the day. She’d send it within a few minutes.
It was a hectic day and I spent most of the morning running errands. When I came home at lunchtime, I noticed that I hadn’t received the fax. I made another call to the pharmacy and left my fax number again before leaving the house. When I got home at the end of the day the fax tray was still empty. I made another call (with mounting frustration and full intent of expressing my disappointment). You can imagine my surprise when the woman said she had been trying to fax the form all day but couldn’t get through.
That was the day I learned about the receive button.
It’s wasn’t enough to keep asking for the fax; I must also press the receive button when the phone signals its arrival. I couldn’t ask and then passively wait for the answer. It required a step of faith, an action on my part. If I were to be away from the phone, I must press the automatic receive button. I could have asked a million times, but unless I activated the receive mode, the fax would never get to me.
It’s the same way in God’s kingdom. I can pray a million times for a request but unless I also activate the receive mode, will not receive an answer. Prayer is more than a passive request. It requires the faith to receive as well. Since that day, I’ve tried to verbally receive whenever I pray for something. Here are a few samples:
Asking for physical healing—Lord, I receive health and healing
Asking for direction in dealing with a sticky problem—Lord, I receive wisdom
Asking for endurance to persevere—Lord, I receive energy and strength
Asking for forgiveness—Lord, I receive your mercy and forgiveness
Asking for help to forgive someone else—Lord, I receive your grace
After all, I want to not only ask but also receive from God’s hand. In fact, I want to receive everything He has for me. I want to walk in wisdom and discernment, strength and health, focused on obeying his will.
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 NIV
