13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. - John 14

Promise as irrefutable, as it is unqualified,
(only that we ask in his name).
No ‘if’s, no ‘and’s, no ‘but’s.

Then there’s the lived experience,
of many a Christian,
who has asked and not received,
what they have asked for,
in Jesus’ name.

And not just new converts:
making sincere, if immature requests,
to spend on their desires;
seasoned saints, earnestly seeking,
the good of others, downtrodden and infirm.
or just seeking, patent good.

Whatever? Anything? Really?

How do you begin? To square this circle?
the quick and easy way out?
fault the supplicant, dodge the issue;
‘your request was compromised, by a deficit of faith,
unconfessed sin, wrong doctrine, or other technicality.’

Really, how do you begin? to square this circle?
in humility, you can start,
by considering what all have,
who have asked for it believing:
the gift of salvation.

Then you try,
to understand the enormity,
of the sacrifice behind that gift,
and maybe you consider,
the transience of this broken order,
of even the deepest of human afflictions.
In contrast to the future,
salvation guarantees, into perpetuity.
Alongside his promise to be there,
even in the roughest of places.

Then perhaps by considering also,
the height of His ways above ours,
His majesty, His mystery, our humanity.

Acknowledging He stands apart from time,
while we, circumscribed by our finitude,
see dimly as though looking,
through cloudy lens.