This message is for those who are pressing. If you’re not pressing yet, you can decide right now and get everything you need out of this. Those of us who are pressing are going after the Lord with everything we’ve got.
We’re reaching for the hem of His garment, listening for His voice, and learning to live every moment directed by Him. Today’s message is the Lord showing you the result of your pressing.
Matthew 7:7–11 (NLT) has been burning in my heart. Jesus said, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” How many receive? Everyone. How many find? Everyone.
Jesus made this so clear. If earthly parents know how to give good gifts, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him?
The title of this message is one word: Ask, and you will receive. Ask, and your Father will give you good things. He’s not hiding this, and He’s not hesitant about it. He wants you to ask.
Mark 11:22–25 (NLT) echoes this with even more clarity. Jesus said you can speak to a mountain, believe without doubting, and it will move. Then He said, “You can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Not someday, not maybe — believe you’ve received, and it will be yours. The only condition He brings up is forgiveness. Let go of the grudges and let God work.
Some of us need to be honest with God the same way the father in Mark 9 was. He said, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (NLT). Jesus didn’t rebuke him. Jesus didn’t force him to fix his unbelief first. Jesus healed the boy because the father humbled himself.
That same humility is what the Lord is inviting you into today. Tear down the pride. He’s already aware you’re working through unbelief. He’s not waiting for perfection. He’s waiting for honesty.
In Luke 11:5–13 (NLT), Jesus told the story about the neighbor knocking at midnight until his friend finally got up and gave him what he needed. Jesus wasn’t teaching that God is annoyed by your asking. He was teaching that you need the persistence. The more you ask, the more convinced you become that God actually wants to give you what you’re asking for.
We’re not pressing to convince God. We’re pressing to convince ourselves.
John 14:12–14 (NLT) might be the boldest passage in Scripture. Jesus said anyone who believes in Him will do the same works He did and even greater. Then He added, “You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Not “I might.” Not “If the conditions are perfect.” Jesus didn’t say “anything except…” He didn’t put a fence around His own words, and He doesn’t need us to build fences for Him.
I sent a video this week teaching people to ask God for more. Someone replied, “So you’re saying if someone asks for the winning lottery numbers, God will give it?” My answer was simple: I’m not authorized to put parameters around what Jesus said.
If someone asks the wrong thing, God will teach them. But Jesus didn’t limit His own invitation, so I’m not about to limit it for Him.
John 15:5–8 (NLT) gives us the one true boundary: abide in Him. Stay connected. Keep your focus on Jesus. Seek first the Kingdom. When you abide, what you ask for lines up with His heart without you even trying. He changes your desires from the inside out. So yes — you can ask for anything, and it will be granted.
There’s freedom in that. There’s responsibility in that. But most importantly, there’s invitation in that.
I used to think God wouldn’t use someone rough around the edges. Then the Lord led me to a minister named Jonathan Shuttlesworth. He irritated me. He didn’t fit my religious expectations. But the Lord kept saying, “Keep watching.” And the more I watched, the more God ripped the religious rules out of me.
Religion adds boundaries Jesus never added. Religion invents limitations Jesus never taught. And the Lord wants you free from all of that.
One Sunday someone testified that God told her to stop at a casino, and she walked out with $50,000. You should’ve seen my face. I had to stand there and figure out what to do with that testimony while the Lord whispered, “Watch this.” He knows how to deal with your religious hang-ups. He knows how to stretch you. And He loves doing it.
John 16:23–24 (NLT) says we now ask the Father directly in Jesus’ name. Jesus said, “Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.” Again — no parameters, no restrictions, no hesitation.
James 4:1–3 (NLT) adds one clarification. Sometimes you don’t receive because you don’t ask. And sometimes you don’t receive because your motives are selfish. A simple heart check fixes that. Ask God for what pleases Him, and you can be confident He hears you.
First John 3:21–24 (NLT) says if we don’t feel guilty, we can approach God with bold confidence and receive whatever we ask. Guilt keeps you from asking boldly. Shame convinces you God won’t give you anything. But Jesus freed you from all of that. Believe in Jesus. Love one another. That’s His command. Everything else can be washed away.
Stop looking at your past. It’s irrelevant. Learn from Jesus, not from your mistakes. If the enemy tries to bring up your past, tell him, “Nope. Don’t remember.”
First John 5:14–15 (NLT) says when we ask for anything that pleases Him, He hears us. And if He hears us, He gives us what we ask for. If you need a Scripture for your fridge this week, that’s the one.
Why doesn’t everything happen instantly? Because some answers need time to cook. Microwave blessings are soggy. Oven blessings take time but taste better. Daniel waited 21 days for his answer, not because God hesitated, but because spiritual battles were happening in the unseen.
Jeremiah 33:3 (NLT) says, “Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.” And Jesus echoed it in John 16:13. The Holy Spirit will show you things to come. Why not ask Him?
Psalm 37:4 (NLT) says if you delight yourself in the Lord, He will give you your heart’s desires. He even cares about the small desires — like Darla’s hummingbirds on her back porch.
Earlier this year, I was praying after service, simply seeking the Lord with no agenda. And He spoke something so clearly that I almost dismissed it. He said, “I’ve called you to be a billionaire. Will you answer the call?”
I stood up and said, “I accept the call.” Then He told me to make a billion-dollar plan. I dreamed big, wrote it all out, and realized I barely hit $40 million. The Lord wasn’t correcting me — He was expanding my vision.
Then He told me the purpose: the harvest. Harvest time is costly. Workers need to be paid well. And He wants people in the body of Christ managing the payroll for harvesters without fear or lack.
He led me into a plan involving sewing seed at a level consistent with His promises — a hundredfold return. I didn’t have the seed for a billion yet, but I had the seed for the first step. So I’ve been sewing faithfully every ten days all year. The harvest hasn’t arrived yet, but it’s coming. And when it comes, I’ll increase my seed and take the next step.
Jesus didn’t suggest asking. He commanded it. Ask believing. Keep believing. Never stop believing. And when the answer arrives, receive it and give Him glory.
Most people ask small. Most people hesitate. Most people stop asking when time passes. But the Lord is calling you to increase your asking. Take time every day to sit with Him and think, “What can I ask God for today?” Make it intentional. Make it bold. Make it big.
Ask like a child who refuses to stop asking for a snack. Kids don’t apologize. They don’t worry about annoying you. They just ask. And they keep asking.
The Lord is not trying to quiet you. He loves your asking. He invites your asking. And He wants you to ask until asking becomes natural again.
Ask, keep asking, believe, keep believing, and never stop believing. Because He hears you, He loves you, and He will give you what you ask for.
