Anyone who knows me will tell you I love anticipation. Christmas. My birthday. The weekend. The start of football season. Seeing my wife after she’s been out of town all week. Vacations. A change of seasons. And on and on.

Yesterday, I got caught up in anticipating the arrival of the tsunami in Hawaii as a result of the earthquake in Chili. I watched the news. I read reports online. I even watched a streaming live video of a local news station in Hawaii.

One of the images that sticks with me from yesterday was a large group of people sitting on a cliff. They were staring out at the ocean. For hours. Waiting for the tsunami. Watching and waiting for something big to happen.

Fortunately, the tsunami was not nearly as bad as expected. To my knowledge there was little, if any, real damage in Hawaii, but it has me thinking about watching and waiting and expecting.

What am I watching and waiting for? What am I expecting?

James 4:1-3 says:

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

I find it amazing that I don’t have because I don’t ask.

Why don’t I ask?

The primary reason is a simple one. I doubt. I doubt God will answer. I doubt He will come through. And so I don’t ask.

So why do I doubt?

I think I doubt because I’ve asked for things, but didn’t get them. I’ve asked for His help, but He didn’t seem to provide it. I’ve prayed for healing, but both of my parents died anyway. I’ve begged Him for financial help, but things got worse, not better. I’ve known women who wanted to get pregnant, but couldn’t.

And so my doubt sometimes leads me to not ask. Why ask for something that’s not going to happen, right?

No, not right. Wrong.

I don’t have because I don’t ask. If I ask and don’t receive, it’s because my motives are wrong. Simply put–I’m asking for the wrong things.

So what if you and I were to ask for what we want and what we wanted lined up with God’s plan for us? What if we asked without giving up? What if we asked and waited patiently and actually expected God to answer?

It would be kind of like sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean, waiting for, anticipating a tsunami to roll ashore. If you are asking for something in line with God’s will, then don’t give up. Keep asking. Keep waiting. Keep watching.

Your answer is coming.