Ask and It Is Given

Jesus said this to his followers. The Bible has been translated from one language to another over the centuries, so obviously I can’t vouch for exactly what Jesus said to his followers that day. But going by the Bible, for what it’s worth, it seems he said precisely that; “Ask and it is given”.

Not ask and it will be given. Or it will be given later, Or given eventually. Or given if you are pure and without sin. Apparently he said “Ask and it IS given”, with no conditions attached, which seems to mean that if you sincerely want something (which is akin to asking for it, in your mind), then it IS given. In other words, it’s yours literally for the asking.

Not as simple as it sounds

Of course it’s not always as simple as that. I’ve asked to win the Lottery once or twice and I’m still waiting for my numbers to come up. But then again I don’t buy a ticket so it’s hardly likely to happen any time soon. And there we have one of the faults with the way we think about this – we tend to think, if this is true, I should get exactly what I want immediately, and without doing anything to get it. Which, of course, is ridiculous. Even if the Universe, or whatever force or entity controls such things, is eager to supply all our desires, I think it’s only reasonable if we make an effort to meet it halfway.

Actually, I tend to think it’s our subconscious mind that pushes us in the right direction to satisfy our desires, although I think there must also be some connection with a Supreme Power of some sort as well. Source Energy, as Abraham would say.

Anyway, back to the quote (Ask and it is given) … I’ve noticed that if we have faith that we will get what we ask for, it does tend to appear, more often that not. I’ve read dozens of first-hand accounts where someone has wanted something and it has appeared by accident, or by a legacy, or by an unlikely series of coincidences, or by some other, sometimes strange means. And sometimes it has taken quite a while. Sometimes pretty quickly. But often enough to back up this idea that if you set your mind on something then one way or another it will happen.

And Abraham says that it is simply the law of attraction in operation. In other words, you want something badly, so you think about it often, and visualise it in detail, and you imagine having it, and enjoying it, and revelling in it, and so on. The result of all that is that you are vibrating at a certain frequency, the frequency of having the thing you desire. So, according to the law, the two things are attracted to one another, just as surely as two planets or asteroids or comets are drawn together by their mutual gravitational attraction. It doesn’t matter if one of the celestial bodies has ‘not been a good boy’, or ‘doesn’t deserve’ to have the other thing come towards it. No-one is sitting in judgement in the matter. It’s simply a scientific process, again, like gravity.

If you fall off the roof of a tall building, you’re going down, no matter what. Maybe you decide, perhaps halfway down, that you don’t believe in the law of gravity anymore. Good luck with that! Ain’t gonna make your landing any softer. The law is the law, and it does not change. It CANNOT change.

So Jesus was saying, in a simple way that simple people could understand (and of course this was two thousand years ago and the people he was speaking to lived very simple lives) … he was saying, I think, if you set your mind on something, it will happen. If you want something, it’s coming your way, as sure as night follows day, regardless of whether you’re a saint or a sinner. Your very desire is attracting the object of your desire. No ifs, no buts … ask and it IS given.

Ask and it is given … if you have faith

So my feeling is that this comes down to faith. Not faith in God. Not even faith in yourself. Just faith. Faith that there is such a thing as the law of attraction, and faith that it works, regardless of anything else, every time and without fail.

So, okay then, how come it doesn’t work all the time? The answer to that puzzling question is quite simple; we just don’t really have faith, or at least enough faith. Even if we believe in the law of attraction, it’s not necessarily easy to believe that it always works, and it cannot fail. We tend to think in terms of how we do things (often half-heartedly), not how the law of attraction works. So we doubt it. And that stops us vibrating on the frequency of that which we desire. It interferes with the process by making us vibrate at a different frequency.

And Jesus gave some startling examples of absolute faith. He performed miracles, i.e. he demonstrated the power of absolute faith, and each time the miracles worked exactly as he intended. They weren’t a bit successful (which in itself would have been impressive), they were totally successful. Because he never doubted for even a second! And with such certainty, and such strong faith, he could indeed work miracles, or as he put it, move mountains.

So, if you subscribe to the idea of the law of attraction, and if you’ve wondered why it seems to work only some of the time, maybe the fault lies with ourselves, not with the law. As Shakespeare put it, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”.  According to the law, like things attract each other (as in, your frequency matches the frequency of the object of your desires) … but, and this is the critical point … if you don’t have total and unshakeable faith that you will get your desires, then you’re not going to be vibrating at the right frequency. In fact, the frequency of your vibration might very well be in direct opposition to what you actually want (for example, if you start thinking “well, I don’t suppose I’ll be able to get that, but it’s a nice thought … maybe one day though”). So … you’re left wanting.

I don’t profess to know much about this subject, or to be an expert in it, but I do think what I’ve said might just be true. And I hope it helps clear up any confusion about why the law of attraction, which seems such a wonderful idea, seems not to work very well. I think the truth is that the law works perfectly well, no matter what, even if we know nothing about it, and don’t have a clue what’s going on. But we have to actually believe that the object of our desires is heading towards us right this minute. We have to have total faith in that … or, as Jesus said, “Ask, and it is given”. Or in other words, merely desiring the thing, and believing it is yours, is actually drawing it towards you, even as you have the desire in your mind.

And the stronger your desire, and the more profound your confidence that it is coming to you, the sooner it will make its presence known. As long, of course, as you do your part, and take action to help it on its way.