Just ask! In a world where hints, subtle suggestions and passive aggressiveness are becoming common language, we need to develop the skill and courage to make direct asks when building a partnership team. Our unwillingness or inability to make direct asks can communicate more about us than we know.
Hinting communicates an internal fear. A direct ask communicates an established faith.
Sure, asking people to join your partnership team can be scary, but where does that fear come from? Is that fear worth surrendering to? Often it is rooted in a fear of being rejected. This is not the mindset God wants us to operate from. We see throughout Scripture that we are called to live by faith rather than fear. I am so thankful for the reminder given to us by the Hebrews writer: “And without faith it is impossible to please God. For those who come to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Before you walk into that appointment, resolve in your heart that you are accepted and called by God. Pray and confess Scriptures that produce belief and drown out doubt. Let your diligence to the purposes of God show by making a direct ask in faith.
Hinting communicates uncertainty. A direct ask communicates conviction.
When it comes to people’s hard earned income, few are going to invest where there seems to be uncertainty. If we beat around the bush when talking to a potential partner about our ministry needs, we communicate uncertainty. Clarity and conviction are of the utmost importance when communicating the vision of your mission and asking for funding. Clarity and conviction are also what you need to produce in the donor sitting across from you, and when they are absent, so is the funding. In the Creation account found in Genesis 1, we see God produce plants and animals which reproduce after their own kind. In the same way, we can help produce the clarity and confidence needed for a partner to join our team by making a direct ask with conviction. Communicate with a confidence in your mission so resolute that if someone offered you a million dollars NOT to do campus ministry you WOULD NOT even think about taking it!
Hinting communicates a lack of preparation. A direct ask communicates a plan.
To a new donor, a soft ask can communicate a lack of preparation, not only in the moment, but also in your future stewardship of the Gospel. Who wants to get behind that? Amos 3:7 declares, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets.” If God does nothing without planning, we are certainly not exempt from it. An additional step you need to take before you walk into an appointment is to create a plan to transition into your ask and have a specific amount in mind you plan to ask for. Some helpful transition strategies are using a Bible verse, a giving need chart or a personal story. Rehearse “the ask,” and make it one of the strongest and most energetic parts of your presentation.
The God we serve asks big things of us, and as a good Father he wants us to ask big things of Him. Throughout Scripture we see God desiring us to ask Him for things like faith (Mark (9:24), wisdom (James 1:5), and more of the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). I am confident that we have all seen Him show up in these areas in both the Bible and in our lives. How much more does He want to respond to our request to fund the very mission He is sending us on by moving in the hearts of those we ask directly? When fear would cause you to hint rather than ask, face it with God’s very own Word in Philippians 4:19: “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”
