Do you know how to ask God for help? Have you done it before? If you have not, then you are missing the best and the greatest help that you can ever get in life.
Whether you know it or not you need the help of God every moment of your life, because “in Him, we walk and live and have our being.” Acts 17:28.
Every day God daily loads us with various benefits, that is, helps that make us overcome challenges and all forms of hindrances that could stop us from fulfilling destinies.
God is doing this out of His abundant mercy towards man. It is that mercy that makes Jesus come into the world to die for our sins.
The truth is, no one can make it in life without the help of God. We need His help right from when we were conceived in the womb to the time we close our eyes in death.
God appoints at least one angel to watch over us and offer help in time of need, without these angels no one can survive the evils that are surrounding us in the world. Psalm 91:11.
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Admit You Need Help
Before you start looking for how to ask God for help, you need to first admit that you need help.
Many people who are having it tough in life, and who need help to get headway, find it difficult to admit that they need help.
Out of pride and personal ego, they find it difficult to admit that they have failed, and they need someone to help them out.
You must know that no one can succeed all alone, you need the help of someone whom God had ordained as your helper to achieve your purpose in life.
When Jesus was on earth during his earthly ministry, he appointed the 12 disciples to always be with him and help him in the task. He knew he cannot do the work alone.
When Israel was fighting against the Amalekites in Exodus 17:8–16. Moses told Joshua to lead the battle against the enemies, while he lifted up his rod in prayer to God on top of the mountain.
In no time his hand became weary and he had to bring them down, a gesture that made the enemies start having the upper hand in the battle.
Two helpers in the name of Aron and Hur had to come along to lift his hand up until they defeated all the enemies.
Just admit it, you need help.
Admit You Need God’s Help
You must admit that you actually need God’s help and not that of man if you really want Him to help you.
The Bible says “whoever comes to God must believe that He is, and is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6.
That is how to ask God for help, by diligently seeking Him.
When you come to God, you must know that you have come to the ultimate help and that there is no other helper besides Him.
God does not like anyone who claims to be trusting Him for help to turn to other sources of help for whatever reason.
Such a person is not worthy to receive His help as far as He is concerned.
This is a major truth you must come to terms with if you want to know how to ask God for help.
God warned the children of Israel when He gave them the ten commandments that they should not have any other God besides Him. Exodus 20:3.
That really translates to not having any other helper besides Him. Whenever Israel goes against this instruction, they always suffer for it.
Many people are suffering today because they are despising and ignoring the help of God to seek help from other sources.
Meanwhile, they want to use the strange help to fulfill God’s mandate for their lives. They will continue to make efforts without getting headway.
Anyone who wants to get God’s help, must totally surrender to His will, agree to His term, and seek the help only in God’s way.
Top 10 Bible Verses About Trusting God’s Plan
How to Ask God For Help – What Can You Ask For?
The question is, what help can you possibly ask from God? The answer is anything – everything.
The Almighty God is the God of the flesh, with whom there is no impossibility, Jeremiah 32:27. He can do all things and supply all your needs, hence there is no help that you seek from Him that He cannot provide.
If how to ask God for help is a question you need an answer to, you will find people in the Bible who sought the same answer, and some of them actually got the help.
You can ask God for help over any issue, going by the experience of these people.
1. In Hopeless situation
David and his men lost all that they had to the enemy, who invaded their village when they went for a battle. 1 Samuel 30:3.
Before David and his men could return, the raiders had taken away all their family members, and their properties, and burnt the whole village with fire.
David and his men wept until they had no more strength to weep, and to make the matter worse for David, his men thought of stoning him to death for being the cause of their predicament.
David encouraged himself in the Lord. He sought the help of God by asking Him how he should handle the situation. 1 Samuel 30:6.
God told him to go after the enemies. He did and recovered all that the enemies took, including all his family members and that of his men.
2. When you Have Health Related Issue
Bartimaeus the son of Timeus was blind and had to sit by the wayside to beg for alms. Mark 10:46. Obviously, he needed help, but no one can give him what he needed.
One day, Jesus was passing by and Bartimaeus heard about it. He cried to Jesus for help. People tried to stop him from disturbing Jesus, but he cried the more until Jesus heard him and sent for him.
He got his healing that day, and never had to beg for alms anymore.
That is how to ask God for help, especially when the situations or people around you seem to be enemies of your breakthrough.
3. When the Problem is in your foundation
The land of Jericho had a peculiar problem; the city was pleasant to look at, but the land was barren, and the water bitter. 2 Kings 2:19.
The people of the land sought the help of God through prophet Elisha who discovered that the problem had to do with the foundation of the city.
That day, the land of Jericho was delivered from many years of barrenness and bitterness.
4. When You Are in Debt.
You should know how to ask God for help when you are in debt.
The story of the widow of one of the sons of the prophet, tells us that God can take care of any debt you are owing if only you can seek Him for help. 2 Kings 4:1-25.
The creditors had threatened to take away the two sons of the poor widow, should she fail to pay her debt when next they would come.
The woman ran to Elisha the prophet of God for help. He told her to carry out some simple instructions which miraculously brought a permanent solution to the problem.
5. When the enemy is closing in
Jacob was told that his brother Esau was coming to welcome him back after 30 years of sojourning in a foreign land.
What informed him that trouble was on the way, was the fact that his brother was coming with 400 bodyguards. Genesis 32:6.
Jacob remembered what he had down that led to his leaving home. He knew that by the time Esau gets to him, not a single member of his family will remain alive. He took the only option that was left for him – to ask God for help.
Jacob was a supplanter, instead of seeking how to ask God for help for what he wanted, he would rather use his cunning wisdom to get what he wants, but on that day that could not save him.
God visited him that night, he held unto God and vowed never to allow Him to go except after blessing him
God was forced to bless Jacob, and He changed his name from Jacob to Israel.
Jacob got the help he needed.
6. When you are facing death.
King Herod attempted to kill Peter. He arrested him and kept him in the prison. Sixteen soldiers were on guard to watch over him so that he will not escape. Acts 12:1-25.
As the church was praying for him through the night, an angel of the Lord visited the prison and set Peter free.
The doors were opening on their own accord, and all the guards slept off.
God moved to save Peter because the church prayed, they know how to ask God for help in time of need.
You don’t need to wait until you have a big problem before you start asking God for help.
The Psalmist says I will lift up my eyes into the hills, from where comes my help, my help comes from God who created the heavens and the earth. Psalms 121:1-2.
Bible Verses On How To Ask God for Help
Matthew 7:7
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Hebrews 4:16
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Psalm 107:28-30
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distresses.
He caused the storm to be still So that the waves of the sea were hushed.
Then they were glad because they were quiet,
So He guided them to their desired haven.
John 14:13-14
Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
Psalm 121:2
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Luke 11:13
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
James 1:5
But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
1 Peter 5:7
casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 5:14-15
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
How to Ask God for Help (Practical Steps)
If you want to ask God for help and get it, you must know how to do it right.
God is merciful, good, gracious, and compassionate, but He is a God of principles. You just have to remember this and comply with His rules otherwise you will not get anything from Him, no matter what troubles you went through in the process of seeking His help.
The following steps will show you how to ask God for help the proper way that gives results.
Develop a Relationship with Him.
God is more than willing to help anyone who comes to Him, that is why He says he will not cast anyone out, but He desires much more than that. John 6:37.
He wants to build a relationship with you. A partnership that will make all that He has available to you.
Do you know that the ultimate plan of God for you is that you inherit all that He has as a joint heir with Christ? Romans 8:17.
Now, that is much more than anyone can offer you in life, apart from the fact that it is an eternal inheritance, the Bible describes it as “what eyes have not seen, what ears have not heard, and what has not entered into the heart of men.” 1 Corinthians 2:9. That is great indeed.
You build a relationship with God by giving your life to Christ. That is, you confess your sin, and accept the gift of salvation brought by Jesus through his death on the cross of Calvary.
Get a full detail of how to receive salvation and build a relationship with God.
Avoid Sin
The only cry of help that God can attend to from a sinner is the cry of repentance from sin. Anything different from this will not reach Him.
His eyes are too pure to behold sin. Habakkuk 1:13. Meanwhile, His hands are not short to save, neither are His ears heavy to hear, but your iniquity had created a big gap between you and God. Isaiah 59:1.
If you know you want God to help you, then keep away from sin. That is how to ask God for help. You can’t outsmart Him, neither can you hide your sin from Him. He will surely find you out.
Ask Through Prayers
God knows what we are all passing through in life. He knows our pains and all our needs, but He wants us to bring them to Him through prayers.
Mathew 7:7 above makes this clear enough.
You just need to ask Him to help you if you actually need His intervention.
Take note of the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:1-20.
She was barren, and she had been going to the Temple of God with her family for the yearly worship, but there was no change in her situation.
One day she decided to cry to God and seek His help, that was when God moved to help her.
When you keep quiet, God too will be quiet, but when you are desperate like Bartimaeus, Jairus, the woman with the issue of blood, and a host of others who cried to him for help in the Bible, he will surely attend to you.
That is how to ask God for help and get it.
4. Check Your Motive
Man look at the outward appearance, but God look at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7.
When you are asking God to help you, He will look beyond what you are asking to find out why you are making that request. He is an all-knowing God, hence He can see into your heart to know your motives for anything that you are doing.
When King Herod told the three wise men to go and find out where baby Jesus was, and come back to tell him so that he too can go there to worship him, God knew his motive. Matthew 2:1-12.
He knew that he wanted to kill Jesus because he never wanted another king within his domain. God told the wise men in a dream that they should not go back to him, but they should take another route back to their country.
James 4:4 quote
Whatever you want be sincere in your heart, never play the game with Him, otherwise, He will not attend to you.
Make a Vow
To show your commitment, you can decide to make a vow when you are asking God for help.
A vow is something special that you will do for God if He can bless you by granting your request.
Hannah told God in her time of need that if God can grant her request and give her a child, she will make sure that no razor touches his head, and that she will loan the child to the Lord all the days of his life.
And so after she weaned Samuel, she brought him to the Temple.
You can vow to do something for a family, church, or community. Something that God will be happy about. You can decide to publicly testify to the goodness of God after He answered your prayers.
The major thing is that, when you make a vow, you must fulfill it, because God is not interested in someone who is not sincere in his dealings. He will play His role, you too should be ready to play yours.
If you now know how to ask God for help, start seeking Him for your help. Turn your attention away from man, and let God be your helper.
Cry to Him now.