Contributed by ~ Dylan Harper ~ April 18, 2019
How much time do you spend in prayer, asking God for stuff?
After all, Jesus makes it pretty clear:
If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
[John 14:14 ~ NASB]
It’s quite possible most of what you ask for aren’t even things meant for you or your benefit, and that’s fantastic – please don’t stop praying like that – but still, you’re asking of God all the same.
Surely, you’ve even heard a sermon preached using (or potentially abusing) the Scripture…
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.
[Matthew 7:7-8 ~ NASB]
…And perhaps the preacher was rather loose in suggesting what you ask God for, tying in Psalm 37:4 and the desires of your heart and ensuring you understand that all you need to have is faith the size of a mere mustard seed in accordance with Jesus’ words in Matthew 17:20…right?!
Well I’ll be honest, and I’ll be the first to admit that over the years I’ve heard many sermons like this. They’re encouraging, exhilarating, inspiring, and often move me to action, to building greater faith, to live with more confidence, expecting more from God through my prayers…in moderation aligned with my own convictions of course.
And that is all good stuff. I’ve believed that with all my heart for many years.
Ask and I shall receive! Hallelujah!!! Praise the Lord! God is gooooooood!
But lately I’ve been feeling like something just doesn’t quite add up. I sense something is missing in that theology. I sometimes even feel guilty as if I’m just constantly asking God for things, all the time.
Some label it the prosperity Gospel, the ‘name it and claim it’ Gospel, and some just simply suggest it’s God’s Word and that’s how they choose to interpret it.
Fair enough. Who am I to judge?
But, ask… and you shall receive…
God is gracious and loves to give His children good gifts and the desires of our hearts, truly, but is He really the recklessly loving type of God that’s going to give His people whatever they want? Sometimes I think it’s possible He does, and believe it or not, He has.
I decided to ask God about this specific thing and here’s what He led me to.
There’s an account given in 1 Samuel 8 when Israel (God’s people) are demanding that Samuel appoint them a new king so that they can be just like every other nation that has a human king leading them. God uses Samuel to try and explain to them what will happen if they choose a human king over God as their King, but they wouldn’t listen. By doing so they reject God, and this is His Word in response:
When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.
[1 Samuel 8:21-22 ~ NIV]
So, there it is! Even when God’s people want what they shouldn’t have, they believe for it, ask for it, and somehow God gives it to them. He truly is gracious that way. However, it comes with a cost, and God warned His people but they didn’t listen. They became slaves and servants to their man-appointed king and it wasn’t a pleasant time for God’s chosen people.
What can we learn from this?
Well, if God knows the desires of our hearts, and He truly does have the ability to give us all that we ask for, is it possible we should be a little more careful about what it is we are asking for? What it is we are seeking? What door we are knocking on?
Jesus does state quite clearly that if we ask anything in His name, He will do it. Is it possible we need to pay a little more attention to the words ‘in His name’?
What does it mean to ask in His name? Well I believe it means to ask according to His will, and Jesus’s will goes a little something like this:
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.
[John 6:38-40 ~ NASB]
Jesus came to do His Father’s will, and we exist today to also do our Father’s will. Last time I checked, our Father’s will wasn’t just the simple desires of our hearts and ‘anything’ that we ask for, despite the way we interpret certain Scriptures. I believe it’s important that we consider the things we are praying for and asking for, doing our best to ensure that they are aligned with our Father’s will, to glorify Him in all we do and all we desire.
I like to think that when we ‘ask for’ things that are aligned with God’s will, we are hardly asking for anything at all, but rather we are speaking into existence the things He’s already planned and prepared for us. We are coming into agreement with His will.
I’ve got this wrong so many times in my life and I hope that perhaps after reading this, maybe you can admit to the same sentiment, and together we can begin praying a little more aligned to our Father’s will, in Jesus’ name, glorifying Him not only in our lives but in our prayers.
Next time you pray, consider what you’re praying and ask yourself if what you’re asking for is also what God is asking for? It may very well change your prayer life and the world around you!
Bless you in your prayerful adventures, friend.
CONTRIBUTOR ~ Dylan Harper
HARP & STONES 