Ask? and you will recieve!

7 ¹ So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord. ² The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.

Samuel Subdues the Philistines at Mizpah

Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. ³ So Samuel said to all the Israelites, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
⁵ Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” ⁶ When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now Samuel was serving as leader^[a] of Israel at Mizpah.
⁷ When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸ They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
¹⁰ While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. ¹¹ The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
¹² Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer,^[b] saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
¹³ So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines. ¹⁴ The towns from Ekron to Gath that the Philistines had captured from Israel were restored to Israel, and Israel delivered the neighboring territory from the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
¹⁵ Samuel continued as Israel’s leader all the days of his life. ¹⁶ From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. ¹⁷ But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also held court for Israel. And he built an altar there to the Lord.

This passage really shows something: praise Him and be in His presence, and He will help you through ALL situations. Sin and He would leave you. This passage and the passages in Judges drew a perfect parallel between death and life. God punishes people who are not faithful and who sin: worship other Gods. Seen in Judges, God judges Israel of her sin and when a Judge appointed by God appears, he delivers Israel from certain death. 
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What we see here is pretty awesome. Serve God, worship Him and repent and He will answer our prayers and help us. Jesus said " Ask anything in my name and i will ask the father." So, ask anything that is righteous and sensible and He will answer. But to ask, you must build this relationship with Jesus, without it, you would not be able to ask Him, because you do not even have a relationship!

This is one of the rare times in which Israel came together corporately to worship Him, repent and to cleanse with Samuel's leadership. Most of the times, we hear of Israel sinning and forgetting about God's goodness and... 

We ask ourselves, people are the same today yesterday and forever. We are sinful. regardless of the generation, the time and the circumstance. Are we like the Israelites where most of our life is spent sinning and a small fraction worshipping and praising Him? Do we, like the Israelites praise Him only when God provides miracles(returning of the ark automatically)? 

God knows that this is a constant struggle for us Humans, so today, we have Jesus Christ. We have Jesus Christ to help us through the sin. Sin? never mind, you are just a human, i pay the price for you sin by my blood. Then, through the Holy spirit, he gives us conviction, so we don't commit the sin again. And we do not have to carry the burden of sin any more. we are blameless. All we need is faith, faith in Jesus Christ. 

Just accept Jesus Christ into our hearts and all is well! He will speak to us and correct us. Simple as that. It begins with faith!