Asking The Right Questions

question markHow many times have we ask a question and the answer we get is nowhere close to what we wanted, or get no response at all?  This happens all too often for most of us.

Learning the art of asking is a start, but more important is asking with correct intent and phrasing. This applies to all levels of life— personal, social, business, education, and spiritual. For example, simply asking ‘Where is the bathroom?’ can get you a range of responses, but not necessarily directions to the closest bathroom.  But, if you ask for ‘Directions to the nearest bathroom.’, then you will receive the answer you need sooner.  The basic intent of both questions is the same, but the phrasing of each question is different, resulting in different responses.

In assisting many people over the years to connect with Spirit and their guide group, two stumbling blocks occur repeatedly.  One is learning to ask for guidance, assistance, information, protection, etc. Number two is learning to ask the question or make a request clear, as in the example above.  Both asking, and asking the ‘right’ question in a clear, concise manner are important.  What often happens is there is a lot of asking of Spirit, with vague or no responses and a sense of frustration building in the questioner.  This is normally a result of unclear or wordy phrasing of the question.

This is a process we all need to learn. My approach is to look at how I am asking a question or making a request and then adjusting how I phrase it.  An example — I requested my guides to provide protection for me. This worked well, as I would ask each day.  One day, I forgot to ask and then a foreign energy came into my space that very night.  As a result, I consulted with my guides as to why they did not provide protection.  Their response was that I did not ask that day.  So my learning was to ask for protection for a different time frame, which is for the rest of my life.  Understanding what is actually wanted from a question or request allows us to phrase it correctly so that we receive the assistance or guidance we are looking for.

Now that we are ‘asking’ and doing so correctly, we can refine our talent by becoming more specific in making a request or our asking,  “Ask and Ye Shall Receive” is a saying most of us are familiar with.  The problem is that this is a general request that could bring a ‘receiving’ to the requestor that they may not want.  Take a moment or two to review in your mind exactly what it is you want or need before making your request. The more specific our question or request is, the better the results generally are.  If you’re not sure about how clear your request is, write it down and then think about how you would respond if someone asked you this question. One client’s car was stuck on ice in their driveway.  They requested their animal spirit guide to ‘push’ the car, which the guide did.  The car then moved off the ice patch and the client went to work.  This is an example of a specific request instead of a general request like “Get me unstuck”.

For more information about how to ‘work’ with your animal spirit guides check out our blog “Lions and Tigers and Bears – Oh My … Animal Guides” at Shaman’s Blog.

Have fun adjusting how you ask and make request. (This is effective with people too!)