Stanley - Ask it: the question that will revolutionize how you make decisions

A SK I T
P UBLISHED BY M ULTNOMAH B OOKS
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica Inc.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Italics in Scripture quotations reflect the authors added emphasis.

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-1-60142-718-2
eBook ISBN 978-1-60142-719-9

Copyright 2004 and 2014 by Andy Stanley

Cover design by Kelly L. Howard

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Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, New York, a Penguin Random House Company.

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Revised and updated from The Best Question Ever.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stanley, Andy.
[Best question ever]
Ask it : the question that will revolutionize how you make decisions / Andy Stanley.
pages cm
Rev. ed. of: The best question ever. c2004.
ISBN 978-1-60142-718-2ISBN 978-1-60142-719-9 (electronic) 1. Christian life. 2. Decision makingReligious aspectsChristianity. 3. WisdomReligious aspectsChristianity. I. Title.
BV4501.3.S7314 2014
248.4dc23

2014024059

v3.1

This book is dedicated to Lanny Donoho.
Solomon was rightthere is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. You have been that kind of friend to me. Thank you.

I see that big question mark in your eyes.

Well, not really. I cant actually observe it from this far awaybut I bet its there. Most of us, most of the time, are weighing some big question or two or three concerning our lives, and we keep encountering new ones all the time:

Do I stay or go?

Is he (or she) the right one for me?

Should I buy this? Sell that? Start this? Stop that? Invest here? Commit there?

I know a question that makes it easy to determine the answer to all these others.

Its the question that answers just about everything for everybody, for the rest of our lives, and at every stage of our lives. It brings clarity and fresh insight for each decision we have to make. It pierces the fog of our self-deception and erases all those shades of gray that cloud our reasoning. It takes us beyond simple right and wrong, beyond whats merely legal, beyond the lowest common denominator.

And if were honest with ourselves, God will use this question in the deepest parts of our lives to help take us to the place of our fullest potential.

Not only that, but its a fairly easy question to answer. In most cases, youll know the answer immediately.

Looking Back

This is a question that will save you a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of stress, andmore importantlylots of tears. I can even state the case this way:

Your greatest regret could have been avoided had you asked this particular question and then acted on your conclusion.

Regardless of whether its an action or event you regret or an entire chapter of your life that you wish you could do overhad you evaluated your options through the lens of this powerful question, you would have avoided what may be your greatest ongoing source of pain.

As you move through the pages that follow, you may find that this single question could have changed the trajectory of your entire life.

Its a question I ask often every day. Its a question that guided me through my late twenties as a single man. Its a question that has served me well through twenty-six incredible years of marriage. Its a question Ive taught my three kids to ask about every option that comes their way. They absorbed it, because its the lens through which we learned to evaluate every decision we made as a family.

Over the past thirty years, Ive had the opportunity to teach this principle to thousands of middle school and high school students. Many of them are adults now with children of their own. Letters, e-mails, and conversations assure me that this big question continues to serve as a decision-making filter for scores of these young adults.

When I share this valuable question with adult audiences, the response is nearly always the same: I wish Id heard this years ago. Translated: I could have avoided some regret, if only

This single question serves as a lens through which you can evaluate all your options. Its a filter that casts things in their actual light. Its a grid that provides context for every choice. It will provide you with a new perspective on your love life, your career, your finances, your family, your scheduleeverything. Its a question that will shed light on issues the Bible doesnt specifically address.

But its not always an easy question to ask. Sometimes it can be a bit threatening, because it exposes so much about our hearts and our motives. But thats just one more reason its so revolutionizing.

Looking Ahead

This book is divided into six parts.

In the first part, youll be introduced to our big question. It takes me a couple of chapters to get to it, so be patient.

The second part explores some common (and dangerous) alternatives to asking our big question.

In the next two parts, well apply our question to two key areas of life: your time and your relationships.

Then, in the fifth part, Ill let you in on a secret known by all the worlds best decision makers.

Finally, in the last part Ill challenge you to make a decision that allows you to get the maximum benefit from this question.

The principle behind this valuable question has impacted my decisionsand consequently my lifemore than any other. This is more than another book for me. This is a life message. The content isnt simply pulled from a series of sermons; its drawn from the years of my lifes journey.

I hope you enjoy the book. More importantly, I hope this powerful question becomes a permanent part of your decision-making process. If you have the courage to ask it, your heavenly Father will use this simple question to guide and protect you in the days to come. And as you experience the significant difference this question makes, I think youll agree that its one youll want to keep asking for the rest of your life.

You and I have something in common. Weve both done some really dumb stuff. Stuff we hope nobody ever finds out about. Stuff we wish we could forget. Theres money we wish we hadnt spent, cars we wish we had never bought, investments we wish we hadnt made, invitations we wish we hadnt accepted, relationships we wish we had stayed out of, jobs we wish we had never taken, partnerships we never should have entered into, phone calls we never should have returned, contracts we never should have signed.