1 Kings 1:16 (NKJV)
“And Bathsheba bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, ‘What is your wish?’”

Knowing how to receive answers to your requests is an art form, an ancient tactic that does not age and is still relevant today as it was back in ancient times. Knowing how to receive is tied to knowing how to ask.

Asking correctly has several key elements, but we will only focus on one today. Asking correctly applies to secular forms of asking as well as asking in prayers to the Lord. In this principle, the secular and the spiritual merge.

In ancient times, you didn’t ask a favor from someone you needed help from without first showing respect and giving some form of homage. It is the humility displayed by the person asking that unlocks compassion in the giver’s heart.

To ask for help immediately implies that you are in need, and the person in need must have a posture of humility. It is incomprehensible that someone asking for help would do this with an air of independence and pomposity.

One reason many people have not received what they desire, both secularly and spiritually, is that they have been unable to overcome or conceal their sense of pride. This attitude is an immediate “turn off” to any giver.

In scripture, we see how people “bowed before the Lord” when making requests of Him, and this “attitude” was not only expressed in physical posture but also in the heart condition. Jesus looks at the heart that approaches Him for help.

If we want to receive anything from the King of glory, we must approach Him with great humility and complete understanding that we cannot make it without His help. When He searches our hearts and finds the correct posture, He will respond.

Prayer is not an activity. Prayer starts with the posture. Prayer begins with humility of heart. Prayer begins with worship, marked by bowing down. Prayer starts with a confession that says, “I am nothing without You. You are Lord. I need You.”

That was Bathsheba’s posture before David. She understood the art of making a correct request before a king. She knew her vulnerability. She knew that her life and her son’s life were at stake. She also knew that she could not alter things without the king’s help.

So, she “bowed and did homage to the king.” When the king saw that, his heart was moved and he said, “What do you wish?” If an earthly king can respond in this way, how much more will our heavenly Father respond to us when we approach Him correctly?

@ChineduOranye
RestlessPilgrim.org