This is a response to the word prompt “Help” from “The Daily Post.”

Why is it that we all seem to have a problem asking for help? Most people don’t ever have a problem giving help when it is asked of them, yet those same people themselves are always reluctant to ask for help when they need it. Why is this the case? What is it that makes one person so happy to give help to another and at the same time receive some help in return?

For me, it is most likely to do with being vulnerable to others. With, offering our help, it is relatively easy because we want to be helpful, we don’t like seeing others struggle. But when it comes to asking for help ourselves, it most likely means we could really need the help and that means we are in a vulnerable position.

We do not like to advertise our vulnerabilities and let them be seen by others. We somehow think that if we ask for help we are saying that we are weak and insignificant. However, this is not true, it is not being weak to ask for help but just the opposite, it is being very strong to ask for help. When we ask for help we let others see all sides of ourselves and yes, we do so with some vulnerability, but in a good way that is liberating for us. Asking for help is also a very humbling experience for it teaches us that we can’t do everything ourselves, but do need help with a lot of things in life, but that is ok.

If we find it difficult to ask for help from fellow human beings, then we find it nearly impossible to ask for help a lot of times from God. If asking for help from a regular person requires vulnerability just picture how much asking God does.  This is especially true in today’s world where we don’t want to be seen by others as putting faith in otherworldly powers such as the divine.

The thing is that just as there is no reason not to ask a fellow human being for help there is even less not to ask God. It is even more, liberating asking God for help than when we ask a person. Actually, I would make the case that when we ask for help from someone we are actually asking God. Both are humbling experiences and require great courage and afterwards makes us feel a little better.

So remember the next time you find yourself needing to ask for help, just jump in and ask. Don’t think about it, asking for help does indeed help in more ways than one. Asking for help makes you stronger not weaker, especially if the person you are asking is God.