Ask, Remain, Receive

In this episode of Round Table Conversations with Yolimar, we explore the quiet but powerful journey of learning how to ask, remain, and receive in our walk with God.

Most of us are comfortable trying to figure life out on our own, pushing through, making plans, staying strong, and only turning to God when we feel we've run out of options. But what happens when we realize that striving isn't enough? When control starts to slip through our hands?

This conversation gently invites us into a different way of living. A life marked not by self-sufficiency, but by surrender. Not just asking God for help, but learning to remain connected to Him in every season, before, during, and after the breakthrough.

Through Scripture, reflection, and honest moments of self-awareness, this episode challenges us to consider what it really means to depend on God daily, and how transformation often happens in the space between asking and receiving.

Thank you for spending this time with me. If this episode spoke to your heart, share it with someone who may need encouragement today. Don't forget to follow the podcast so you never miss a new episode.

If you're looking for deeper support, I offer one-on-one coaching where we walk through life, faith, and healing together. You can connect with me at coachedbyyolimar@gmail.com.

Until next time, stay rooted in truth, walk in grace, and trust God in every season.

Transcript

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Welcome to Round Table Conversations with Yolimar, a space for real, faith-centered conversations about life. I'm Yolimar and I invite you to come with an open heart and mind as we grow together in truth, healing, and God's love. Have you ever noticed how hard it is to ask for help? I don't mean asking someone to pass you something. I mean the kind of asking that requires humility, the kind of asking that forces you to admit you can't fix it yourself. The kind of asking that begins where self-sufficiency ends. For many of us, we don't ask until we've exhausted every other option. We try harder, we make another plan, we even convince ourselves we can do it on our own. And then eventually we arrive at a place we were trying so hard to avoid. A place of need, real need. The moment we realize we don't have all the answers, the moment we realize another plan isn't going to fix what we're carrying. And in that moment, something shifts, not always dramatically, sometimes quietly. I've noticed this in my own life. There have been seasons where I wanted God to change my circumstances more than I wanted Him to change me. I wanted answers. I wanted direction. I wanted. I wanted God to tell me what came next. And if I'm honest, I thought what I needed was a solution. But what God kept showing me was that what I really needed was Him. Not another strategy, not another answer, not another plan, His presence. And looking back now, I can see that some of my greatest spiritual growth didn't happen when God immediately answered my prayers. It happened when He taught me dependence, when He taught me to stop striving, to stop relying on myself, to stop carrying things He never asked me to carry. He taught me how to ask. I think that's what Jesus was getting at when He said, For everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be open in Luke 11 10. Notice the simplicity of that promise. Jesus doesn't say everyone who has it all together receives. He doesn't say everyone who performs well receives. He says everyone who asks, because asking requires humility. Asking acknowledges what pride wants to deny. I cannot do this on my own. God welcomes dependence. Asking is not weakness, it is faith. It is recognition that God is God and we are not. And maybe that's why asking can feel so difficult, because asking requires us to release the illusion of control. Maybe that's why some of our greatest spiritual breakthroughs begin with surrender, not strength, not achievement, not having it all together, but finally reaching the place where we say, God, I need you. In Luke 11 13, it says, So if you sinful people 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? What a beautiful promise. Notice that Jesus points us beyond circumstances, beyond blessings, beyond temporary solutions. He points us to the Holy Spirit. God's greatest gift is not always a change situation. Sometimes his greatest gift is his presence within us while we walk through it. Because the Holy Spirit gives us wisdom, comfort, strength, guidance, peace. And those are things no circumstance can take away. But asking isn't the end of the story. Because once we receive, another challenge appears. Remaining, staying connected, continuing to abide, continuing to depend on God after the crisis has passed. I've been thinking about this a lot lately. How often do we treat God like an emergency contact? We call when we're desperate, we seek him when we're hurting, we run to him when life gets difficult. But then when things improve, we slowly drift back into self-reliance, back into striving, back into depending on ourselves. Yet Jesus offers us something so much deeper. John fifteen seven reminds us if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. Notice the order. Remain, then ask. Remain, then receive. Because the goal was never simply getting something from God. The goal was always relationship with God. When we remain in Christ, something begins to change. Our desires change, our priorities change, our perspectives change. What once felt important begins to lose its grip on us, and what matters to God begins to matter to us. That isn't control, that's transformation. The closer we stay to Him, the more His heart shapes ours, the more His will becomes our desire, the more His presence becomes enough. And this is where I think many of us misunderstand receiving. We think receiving is getting what we ask for, but sometimes receiving looks different than we expected. Sometimes we ask for answers and God gives wisdom. Sometimes we ask for strength and God gives his presence. Sometimes we ask for change and God changes us. James one five says, If you need wisdom, ask our generous God and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. I love this verse. He will not rebuke us for asking. God is not irritated by our need. He is not frustrated by our dependence. He invites it, He welcomes it. He delights in being our Father. Matthew five three says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The world teaches us self sufficiency. Jesus blesses dependency. The world says you've got this. Jesus says remain in me. The world says work harder. Jesus says ask. The world says be strong. Jesus said Blessed are those who know they need me. Proverbs three verse five. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your path straight. Not some of your heart, not on your own understanding, but submit to Him and trust Him beyond what you can see. So what does this mean for us? Maybe the invitation today is not to try harder, maybe the invitation is to become honest, honest about your need, honest about your limitations, honest about the places where you've been relying on yourself instead of God. The kingdom of God is built on dependence. The Christian life was never meant to be lived through self-sufficiency. It was meant to be lived through surrender. Perhaps the greatest spiritual growth happens when we stop pretending we are enough and begin living from the truth that He is. Maybe the greatest gift isn't what God gives us. Maybe it's discovering He is enough. Today I encourage you to sit with this. Have you been seeking God's hand more than His heart? What would it look like for you to remain in Christ this week instead of striving? Let me pray. Father, thank you. Thank you that you never ask us to carry life on our own. Forgive us for the ways we have relied on our own strength, wisdom, and understanding. Teach us to ask, teach us to seek, teach us to knock. Give us the humility to recognize our need for you and the faith to believe that you delight in meeting us there. Help us not only to come to you when we are desperate, but to remain in you daily. Father, shape our desires through your presence, align our hearts with your will. Teach us, Lord, to trust you more than we trust ourselves. Teach us to depend on you more than we depend on our own understanding. May our lives be marked by surrender, intimacy, and deep abiding relationship with you. And may we always remember that the goal is not simply to receive from you, the goal is knowing you. In your holy and precious name, amen. Thank you for joining me at the table today. If this conversation encouraged you, share it with a friend who may need it too. Until next time, may God bless you, guide you, and remind you that you're never alone.