There is a spiritual idea that appears in the New Testament which states, “Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” It is our mistaken belief that this idea is saying all of our desires will be fulfilled simply by asking God, and that our “order” should be filled to our exact specifications as quickly as possible.

Most of us have to learn the hard way about what it means to ask sincerely for the presence of God, to ask to be truly present to ourselves. The sleeping mind that wants instant gratification exclaims, “Why would I want to keep asking for something that I never get?” But that level of mind cannot see that it gets what it is asking for in every moment.

Why does someone ask for a glass of water? We ask for a thirst-quenching drink of water because our bodies need it. Our need for water means that there already exists some kind of connection to it. Would it be possible to have a true need for something if the potential fulfillment of that need didn’t already exist? If we truly need something it is because that thing — be it the need for water or the need for patience — is already within us waiting to be discovered.

The need for what is Divine is produced by the very thing the need is for. The wish to be still is the flowering of stillness in us. The sensing of the absence of kindness would not be possible without the fullness of kindness itself, else we would never be aware of its absence. Any higher request that is stirred in us is stirred by what is being requested. Even though it may not always seem so, any sincere request to be in the presence of the Divine is the Divine Presence asking us to attend to that wish.