A.S.K. - Part 2

    Within this command to pray I think we can see four general principles about prayer:
1. God does not promise to answer everyone’s prayers. There is a restriction to the promises given in these verses. The promises apply only to those who are really God’s children. “But isn’t God the Father of all humans?” you may ask. And the answer is, “No he is not.” He is the creator of all, but he is not obligated to answer the prayers of those who are not his children. I realize of course that is pretty narrow statement, in fact a former head of the Southern Baptist Convention once stirred up a big conflict over this statement that God is not obligated to answer the prayers of unbelievers. But he was right! And I believe it’s scriptural. God is not the Father of all men, God is the Creator of all men, but that is not the same. God is Father only to those who are born again into the family of God. God does not promise to answer everyone’s prayers. He may at his own discretion, but he is not obligated.

2. We are expected to ask for the things God has promised. “ask (for whatever God has promised) and it shall be given.” This same principle is stated in the negative in James 4:2 “you do not have (the things God has promised) because you do not ask.” And, it goes on to say that we ask with the wrong motives. We live in an age of man’s efforts and man’s determination, of man’s confidence in himself and his own power to achieve things, an age of human organization, human machinery, human push, human scheming, and human achievement; even in the church. But, where is God in the church? Jesus said; “Unless you abide in me, you can do nothing.” Oh, it may look like something, but it’s nothing!

3. God hears and answers every prayer of the believer. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” There are two certainties when we pray; one is that God hears every prayer; the other certainty is that God always answers. This verse says for ‘everyone who asks receives,” did I read that right? Yes, it says everyone receives! But we have the misconception that the only possible answer to prayer is yes. There are other possibilities; God can say, no or he can say, not yet, I have something better planned. But, God hears and answers every prayer.

4. Sometimes God gives us what we need and not what we ask for. “Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

    Even earthly fathers give good things to their children. We do not give a child a red-hot chili pepper just because they ask for it. Well, some fathers might, but with a sense of humor. My dad once had me hold on to the spark plug of the lawn mower so “I could see if it was firing!” But generally speaking we do not give things to our children that we know will really harm them. And if this true of our earthly fathers how much truer it must be of our heavenly father. So then if we ask for good things, he grants them. If we ask for things which are not good (either not good in themselves, or not good for us or for others, directly or indirectly, whether immediately or ultimately) God will deny them; and only HE knows the difference.

    Someone has written “I asked for strength that I might achieve; he made me weak that I might obey. I asked for health that I might do great things: he gave grace that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; he did not give them so that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men; I was given weakness that I might feel a need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life, that I might enjoy all things. I received very few of the things I asked for; but I received all the things I had hoped for.”

Sometimes God gives us what we need and not what we ask for, but then, He is God.

The good news is that God has promised that “it shall be given to you; you shall find; and it shall be opened to you” but, we can’t just ASK... We must also “seek” and we must “knock”.

“Ask, Seek, Knock”

Matthew 7:7-11

    There is nothing that reveals more about a believer than his or her prayer life. How that individual approaches God and what that individual is willing to ask for can reveal how he or she views God. We frame our requests in accordance with what we know of the character of the one we are addressing. It is very similar to how a child will make a request from their father. The child with a kind, gentle and firm father, does not fear to ask anything, for deep down they have the assurance that the father has greater wisdom and experience, and because he loves them, would not give them anything that would be harmful. The child with extravagant but uncaring father will with arrogance lay down his demand - sometimes with much weeping and wailing - knowing his every desire will be met. The child with the stingy, ill-tempered, abusive father will seldom dare to ask for anything.

    "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” It is interesting that the first letter in each verb also spells the word ASK! All three verbs in verse seven, Ask, Seek, Knock are imperatives (commands). There are two basic kinds of imperatives in the New Testament. There is the aorist imperative which is a command to do a particular thing at one specific time, and there is the present imperative which is a command not only to do something but to keep on doing it indefinitely. All three verbs in verse seven are not only imperatives but they are present tense imperatives. We are told to ask and keep on asking, we are to seek and keep on seeking and we are to knock and keep on knocking.

    There is also within this verse a progression in prayer. The very words ask, seek and knock seem to suggest an ever-increasing intensity in prayer.

1. Asking. This one is obvious. There are some things that the need is so clear that we merely must ask for them. However, there are times as James has said, when “Ye have not because Ye ask not.”

2. Seeking. Seeking is a deeper level of prayer than just asking. Sometimes we may doubt or be in darkness and we need to first seek God’s will before we know what to pray for. But God has made provision even in those times when we don’t know what or how to ask; for we read in Romans 8:26-27 “the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” If something is not the “will of God” we can ask until the cows come home, and it will do no good. Seek is (asking + effort): When someone wants something, they pursue it. To pursue something you must show effort. You can’t seek after something that you show no effort for. When Jesus said for you to pray: “Give us this day our daily bread”, he did not mean that he will pour money from heaven into your bank account! Jesus meant, God will open doors to provide for our daily needs. God is not going to do what you can, but he is more than willing to do for you what you can’t on your own.
    So, “seeking” may be seeking God’s will; or seeking after that for which we have asked God to help us with; or it may also mean just plain seeking after God while we wait for an answer.

3. Knocking. The knocking here denotes seeking entrance, or desiring fellowship with. When you knock on a door, you are looking for the door to open. Again it is also a suggestion of persistence – “keep on knocking.” Which of these three (ask, seek, knock) do we do the most? I would say - (ASK) Which do we do the least? I would say - (SEEK) Which is the most difficult for you to do? 

More in Part 2 next week...

When everything seems possible.

“When Everything Seems Possible, Pray!”

 Nehemiah 4

    This story from the life of Nehemiah is rich with spiritual insight. It is usually preached from the leadership point of view, showing how Nehemiah expressed the qualities of good leadership in the building of the walls. I am going to use this story to show that when everything seems possible, we need to pray. When it seems as though God is in control; and all is right in our world; and things couldn’t go better, we need to pray. This seems like I have it wrong, and it should be - “When everything seems impossible, we need to pray!” When it seems as though God has forgotten us; the world is falling apart; and nothing is going right, we need to pray. However, the Apostle Paul admonishes us in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to “pray continuously” or “without ceasing”…and again in Ephesians 6:18 - “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

    When I have performed wedding ceremonies, I ask the bride and the groom to love and cherish one another “for richer, for poorer; in sickness and in health…” How many know that good times can be as much of a challenge at times as much as tough times? Wealth can seem good, but at times has destroyed individuals as well as entire families…. just as poverty does. Success can erode as much as failure…No wonder Paul said, “pray in all occasions.”

    I want to begin by going back to chapters one and two of Nehemiah in order to refresh our minds as to the background of this story, as well as to point out some things along the way;

    In verse 3 of chapter 1 we find the problem; (read) “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” In chapter 2 - verse 5 we find Nehemiah’s passion; (read) “If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my ancestors are buried so that I can rebuild it.” In verse 10 we find that there is opposition (read) “When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.” Then in verses 11-16 we find Nehemiah inspecting the needs in a time of preparation; (I won’t take the time to print it all, but verse 15 says, “so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall.” In verses 17 and 18 Nehemiah gives the people the vision and they accept the vision and it says “they began this good work.” And finally, in verse 20 we find Nehemiah revealing his power, his guidance, his source, “The God of heaven will give us success!”

    Everything is going well, times are good, He has the King’s approval, he has the people’s approval, he has the passion and the provision, the preparation and the power of God…What could possibly go wrong! Again, I say - When everything seems possible, pray.

    I know that many of you are not football fans, but have you ever seen a quarterback blindsided? He drops back to make a pass and out of the blue, somebody comes in and blindsides him and sacks the quarterback. Well, in this story we have Sanballat and Tobiah, who are like clones of Mike Ditka…Their job is to blind-side Nehemiah and take him down!  Just about the time everything seems to be going well in your life, don’t be surprised if the enemy tries to take you out of the game! Scripture says; “Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour!” It’s no wonder scripture admonishes us to “be alert”…”stay awake”…”keep watch” The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;” says Jesus, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

    Notice however, in 4:4 that Nehemiah sends up what I call a “bullet prayer”…without hesitation, he just shoots a prayer up…He does not stop to calculate; he doesn’t begin to argue; he doesn’t step back in anger or feeling hurt; he just simply calls upon the one who has the power to quiet the opposition….And look at what he reports after his prayer; “So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height.” (Amazing!) This didn’t make the Arabs and the Ammonites happy, and it goes on to say that they again “plotted to fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble”….but, in verse 9 - “we prayed and posted a guard…”

    When the enemy knows he can’t come against our faith in prayer, and the vision is within sight, his next ploy is to bring weariness and doubt. Before you know it, the people start complaining that they are getting tired, there is too much rubble, and they don’t have the strength to fight. Look at what Nehemiah tells them in verse 14 - “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your homes”. And, when the enemy heard that we were aware of their plot, and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work...”

    There is something very important about being “aware” of the enemy’s plots and schemes. It is when we are unaware that wealth and success and good times, which are good things, can destroy and erode. It has been said that “the problem with prayer is that you have to have a problem to pray” …We ought to be people who pray before, during, and after a problem arises.

    Notice also that there is a two-fold means of protection shown here; God is looking out for us and protecting us as we look out for and protect one another. Philippians 2:3 says “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  There is power in numbers to be sure…there is also power in two… one plus God! Prayer is our connection…Prayer is our lifeline. So, when everything seems to be possible…Pray.

Pray and set a guard. A guard upon your body, upon your mind, upon your heart, and upon your soul…And, of course when everything seems impossible…pray! In fact, why not just pray always, at all times, continuously, as Paul suggests.