I take exception to the title of the Hicks’ book “Ask and it is Given.”  I’m sure Jerry Hicks asked to be relieved of the cancer that recently unfortunately killed him, but that, sadly, was not given.

Hungry people ask for food every day, and remain hungry.  Lonely people ask for love, and remain alone.

When we ask and it’s not given, it is not a sign that we are doing something wrong, or that our Higher Power doesn’t love us.  Sometimes we are masters of our own destiny, and sometimes we are being used for a greater purpose that we don’t yet understand.  Sometimes there is something we need to learn.  Usually there is no learning without some pain and suffering.

On the other hand, often we neglect to ask for what we want and need.  I mean that in human terms, and in spiritual ones.  Often it is hard to ask the people around us for what we need.  Even when we are comfortable giving of ourselves freely, we often deny those around us the opportunity to help us.

Sometimes, too, we neglect to tell the Universe what we want.  Sometimes, we don’t believe what we want is even possible.

In giving voice to our needs, we give ourselves, the Universe and our loved ones the opportunity to fulfill those needs.

There is never a guarantee, though.  I remember something from Sunday School at the United Methodist Church.  My Sunday School teacher said that God answers every prayer, but sometimes the answer is “no.”

The energy of asking and receiving is reflected in the Minor Arcana tarot card Six of Pentacles.  In numerology, the number Six can be about victory, glory and service.  In the card image, we see someone giving coins to the needy in charity.  But the benefactor holds a scale – what is given will be given appropriately.  A balance is maintained.

On a higher level, we don’t always know what makes the scales balance.  We may feel we deserve something, but the Universal scale may balance differently.

Sometimes we ask and it’s not given. That’s OK.  But it is always better to ask than to suffer in silence.

If you don’t ask, you’ll never know.  You’ll never have an understanding of your own needs if you don’t enumerate them.  And if you don’t know what your needs are, it may be hard for others to know what they are.

Prayer, magick and manifestation are proactive ways to improve our lives.  By the very act of praying, of visualizing and of making magick, we make a difference.

Sometimes the difference we make will be exactly what we want.  Sometimes it will be something even better.

Sometimes we will have to trust the Universal wisdom of the Rolling Stones.  “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”