Between giving and receiving, we would rather be on the side of giving.
Maybe because we feel good about giving.
To be on the receiving side would certainly require some humility.
Yes, it takes humility to ask so as to receive, whether it is to ask for directions, or to ask for assistance or to ask for money, which can be quite embarrassing.
But when the one whom we are turning to for help is God, then we don't just casually ask.
Because when we turn to God for help, it would be certainly more than just an ordinary request.
In the 1st reading, queen Esther took refuge in the Lord in the mortal peril which had overtaken her.
And she besought the Lord God of Israel in her prayer.
To beseech, to implore, to entreat, are words that are used in different ways to express the act of begging from help from God.
As much as we say that we pray and ask the Lord for His help in our needs, let us take on the spiritual posture of humility and lowliness.
Let us beg the Lord to listen to our prayer and grant us our needs.
How seriously we offer our prayer to God is an expression of how seriously we are in our faith.