A One time opportunity to Ask the King for Anything

As I was reading this morning Psalm 2, I paused at the words in verse 8: "Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession." As many of other Bible readers have experienced, I've read this psalm many times and each time there is something new. At the moment, another verse came to mind. We were talking in our Life Group on Sunday morning in Matthew 7:7: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." And as the discussion progressed, it was mentioned surely Jesus did not mean for us to ask for that new Mercedes or Lexus. Or, as someone mentioned, telling others that God will definitely heal a person and insisting on praying louder for the miracle trying to 'twist' the hand of God as another person said he was taught growing up in a particular denomination. The question came again, how do we ask? What do we ask for? So this morning I thought, what if I'm before the KING of Kings and was directly told, "Ask of me and I will give you the nations..." after all, this Scripture is talking to me too. I thought, "I'm before HIM. What will be my request?" I really wanted to know what is in my heart so I knelt and imagined HIM at HIS throne, What is my request?, I asked myself again. And then, another part of Scripture came to mind, Matthew 14 when a request was presented to another king. The daughter of King Herod's live-in-lover and sister-in-law danced before the king on his birthday and "it pleased" him. So, "he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask." (v.7 NKJV) The young girl could have asked for anything, even part of the kingdom which meant she could receive tribute (payments) from its people. She could have asked for jewelry or even to have her own palace with lots of servants. She could have secured her future. But instead she asked for the head of John the Baptist. We all know Solomon also was presented with the opportunity, directly from God, to ask for anything. And we find Esther too, before a king with a petition for life - hers and her people. "Now, here I'm Lord before you. What is it I really want/need", I prayed. With tears in my eyes, thinking of the magnitude of such a moment, I looked around me and through the windows in my living room. I saw the big yard where I want a beautiful garden with water ponds and resting/inviting areas to read the Bible, meditate, rest or just be. I thought of the additional rooms for homeless women. I looked at the carport, oh, how many times I have driven around town and seen carports with a second floor surrounded by windows. My ideal sewing area, big and full of natural light. There are things unfinished in the house, I thought and we need money to complete them. The bathtub area is not tiled yet and the sheet-rock is getting wet. We don't have a door in the shower either and I don't like having a curtain instead of glass doors. Then I closed my eyes and said again, "What do I want to ask for. If this is my only request before you Lord, what does my heart want." And the words came without thinking, "I want your presence to be with me wherever I go, wherever I'm. I want you; more of you, less of me." And really, that's all I need; that's all we need though we not all may see it this way. If we have HIM, there is nothing we need. Come trouble times, financial hardships, adversity strikes in the form of illness or lost of a loved one, and if I have HIM, HIS peace will surround me, HIS love will sustain me. The words of the psalmist came to mind, and I made them mine, "I want to dwell in the secret place of the Most High, I want to abide under the shadow of the Almighty." How beautiful, how peaceful. I finished my prayer request, "I want you to be with me everywhere I go. I want you, Lord. You are all I need."