I hope you will clarify for me the difference between the supplication of asking and the supplication of worship.

The questioner : The honorable Shaykh says, "I hope you will clarify for me the difference between the supplication of asking and the supplication of worship?"

The Shaykh : Yes. All the acts of worship by which a person worships are all supplication of worship. Prayer is supplication of worship. Charity is supplication of worship. Fasting is supplication of worship. Hajj is supplication of worship. Dutifulness to parents is supplication of worship. Seeking knowledge is supplication of worship. Because if you ask this worshipper, "What do you want with worship?" he says, "I want to draw near to Allah and to attain the abode of His honor." So he is a supplicant with the tongue of reality.
As for the supplication of asking: it is for a person to ask his Lord for what he wants, saying, "O Allah, forgive me, O Allah, have mercy on me, O Allah, guide me," and the like. This is the difference. So every one who worships Allah is what? A supplicant. With which of the two tongues? The tongue of reality. And every one who asks is a supplicant. For this reason, the nearness—the nearness of Allah, Mighty and Majestic—is specific to the one who supplicates to Him or worships Him. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: . And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . And the nearness of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is not a general nearness for everyone. Rather, He is near only to the supplicant and the worshipper. But He, Glorified and Exalted is He, is All-Knowing of everything; He, Mighty and Majestic, knows all the states of the human being. Indeed, the Exalted said: . Yes.