Jesus said "Ask and you will receive."
There are several verses in the Bible that state this.
It is a straightforward statement.
It does not say that you will receive "someday"....weeks, months, years later?
There is a passage that has a qualifier in it which states to ask sincerely in Jesus' name.
Regardless, in my experience, my sincere "asks" have not been "received".
I may have told this story before about my nephew and his wife.
She was pregnant with twins, but one had medical issues and they were told that the baby would not live.
He was an associate Pastor at his church and the whole congregation took part in some heavy prayer to God to save that child.
"Ask and you will receive."
This went on for several months.
He told me that God would answer their prayers and then the world would know that prayer and miracles do happen.
It was a really big deal for all in the congregation.
Unfortunately the baby did not make it to birth.
I thought that because of that his faith would be shattered.
I'd imagine that to some extent it did but he has continued in his faith.
I do not "ask" (prayer) much anymore because I have also sincerely "asked" and did not receive.
But, I may be at a stop light and see some person all crooked and limping across the street and it saddens me.
I do say a quick prayer for help for that person but quickly get frustrated because of my past experiences in "asking".
I sigh and tell myself "Your will Lord, not mine".
Perhaps the passage isn't as straightforward as it seems.
If I pray and ask God that I not be so quick tempered, would I receive my "ask"?
More likely He would not change me but give me opportunities to practice not being so quick tempered.
I really do not know. It does say simply "ask and you will receive".
Yet,.....not really.
Have you asked and have received?
I'm interested in reading some examples where you know your prayer was answered.
I do not mean that just before you shoot a deer that you ask God for you to not miss the shot, and then you have success.
I mean serious stuff.