Learning To Pray The Bible Way
Do you ever wonder if you are praying the right way or praying
for the right things? This six-tape audio series teaches you how to pray the
Bible way, so that you may have confidence in prayers. Learn a pattern for
prayer, and the significance of praying in Jesus' name. Dr. Stanley imparts
practical understanding to prayer, a vital element in every believer's life.
Deepen your relationship with your Heavenly Father as you grow in your prayer
life.
[This is a transcript of the first tape in Dr. Charles Stanley's
six tape audio cassette series "Learning To Pray The Bible Way." The entire six
cassettes will help you build into your congregation a strong knowledge of what
effective prayer is and how to pray effectively. The six tape audio cassette
series is available for $33.00, online at: http://www.intouch.org or mail your order
to: InTouch Ministries, P.O. Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia,
30357-9979.]
"When you pray, do you do so with confidence and an
assurance that God is going to hear and answer your prayer? Or rather are you
harassed by such thoughts as "I'm so unworthy." "I feel so guilty for the past.
Could God ever answer my prayer?"--full of doubts, full of anxiety, sense of
unworthiness, frustration, and often times get up and walk away thinking "Well,
what's the use of praying anyway?" In fact, on the scale of one to ten, how
would you rate your prayer life as far as specific answers to prayer? And could
you say that your prayers are specific or are sort of general?--"Lord, would
you bless my mother, would you bless my husband, bless my children"--or do you
ask for specific things, that when God answers them, you can say "God did that,
he answered this prayer, and he's answered this one." And would you say that
your prayer life is fruitful, is it satisfying, do you see God doing some
unusual things in your life? Or would you say that your prayer life is really
rather a sort of a haphazard response to needs and desires, rather than the
nourishing of the life of Christ within you? Let me ask you that again. Would
you say that your life, your prayer life, is rather a haphazard response to
needs and desires, or is it the nourishing of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ
within you. Because, you see, when you gave your life to Jesus Christ, he came
into your life to live [cf. John 14, read it]. And it is in prayer that we
nourish our relationship with him. And some of you are struggling in your
prayer life. You ask, and nothing seems to happen much. In fact, you sort of
wonder if God's even listening anymore. In fact, you really wonder if he even
cares, because you've brought this to him and this, and this, and somehow
nothing's really happened. You don't see anything going on and surely if God's
the God he says he is, why doesn't he do something? Well, all of us have
struggled at one point or the other in prayer, and I believe if you listen
carefully today you're going to find a simple message that's going to help you
in your faith in talking to God. The title of this message is "Learning To Pray
The Bible Way". I want you to turn, if you will, to Matthew chapter 7, verses
7-11. One of the simplest passages on prayer in all the Bible, found in the
Sermon on the Mount. I remember, it is the first passage on prayer that I ever
memorized. I still know it by heart just like you know your favorite ones, and
in the midst of the sermon on the mount Jesus said, beginning in verse 7, "Ask
and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened
unto you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him
who knocks it shall be opened." Then he asks a question. "Or what man is there
among you when his son shall ask him for a loaf of bread, will give him a
stone. Or if he shall ask for a fish will he not give him a snake, will he? If
ye being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall
your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him?" Now there
are three aspects of this passage that I want us to look at. It's a very simple
passage, but it is profound in the fact that this is the Lord's teaching as to
how to pray. And if I should ask you if you know how to pray, most of you would
probably say "Why sure I do." Then if you looked at your score card on answers
to prayer, then you would begin to say, "Well, I think I do." Because often
times we spend a lot of time talking into the air, or talking to God without
getting much result. And what you see in this passage is simply this, first of
all, and that is, the requests that you and I have to make. He says, "Ask and
it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to
you." Now prayer is more than simply asking and receiving. It is indeed more,
but it is that. It is not only asking and receiving, but it's thanking the Lord
God, it is adoring him, it is praising him. But if you'll notice in the chapter
before what Jesus had been just talking about, in verse 25 of the
6th chapter, he begins to deal with a problem that all of us have at
some time in our life, and that is anxiety. He says in verse 25, "For this
reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life, as to what you should eat
or what you shall drink, nor for your bodies for what you shall put on. Is not
life more than food and the body than clothing?" and that sounds all very
simple and really unimportant to us because most of us have enough clothes to
wear and enough food to eat and a place to live. But in those days, these were
the crucial problems they had to face. You and I today face situations that are
far more crucial to us in our life. But having simply dealt with these things
that were on their mind, he said to them, 'Don't be anxious, don't be worried
about these things. Your Father already knows your needs before you know them,
and he's already beginning to take care of them before you even realize the
needs are there.' And then he says, 'Here's the way you deal with them.' Verse
7 of chapter 7, 'You ask, and it shall be given you, you seek and you shall
find, you knock and it shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives,
and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened.' Very simply,
Jesus is teaching his followers here that here's the way you pray. You ask. You
seek. You knock. That is the first three steps. Anything that a child could
understand. And I would say to these students that are here today, especially,
don't leave home until you have learned to pray. Because you will not take
anything with you apart from the person of Jesus Christ that is a greater asset
in your knowledge than having learned to talk to God--and to listen to him and
to relate to him and to receive your needs and your desires in answer to your
prayers to him.
Now what he's simply saying in this passage is that
prayer is more than giving and receiving, but it is indeed that. And why did
Jesus put the emphasis there? Because he knows that not only in that day, but
in this day--and if we took a little survey right here, probably most people
who pray spend the majority of that time doing what?--asking God for things for
themselves or for other people. And so that's why he says here, when you ask,
ask. He says seek and then he says knock. Now I want us to look at these three
words, because he says it twice in a different sort of fashion. And they're all
commands. He says "Ask, seek, knock" when you pray. That is, he says, 'I'm
giving you directions as to how to pray.' You don't sort of wabble and just
say, "Now Lord, you know I've got some needs, and want you to bless him and her
and Lord the Bible says you already know what I have need of before I ask, so
I'm gonna just trust you and just sort of, you know"--and we just sort of mosey
along and we don't get down to business in prayer. Now one of the reasons Jesus
has made this very clear and very specific in these steps he's given us, is
because that prayer is not really all that simple when you begin to evaluate
it, on the one hand. Secondly, prayer isn't just talking to God, prayer
becomes work. And prayer demands diligence. And when he says
"Ask, seek, knock" Jesus is saying there's a sequence of events. And there's
something going on here more than just something verbal. Now why did he put it
in that fashion? And why did he not simply say, "Pray, and you will
receive"--period, and let that be it? Because he wants us to understand the
true nature of prayer, that it is more than asking. Because there are times
when you and I ask and we don't get exactly what we ask for. There are times
when we ask when we don't get what we ask for. There are times when we ask and
there's a delay. And so Jesus is teaching us here the very vital steps in an
effective prayer life.
There's a second thing he's in the process of
teaching us here when he says "Ask, seek and knock" and that is that there are
two responsibilities in prayer, God's responsibility and our responsibility.
That is, there is a human side in praying, but there is also a Divine side. And
you cannot have one without the other, it isn't all Divine and it isn't all
human. It is both human and Divine. I have a responsibility, God has a
responsibility. Then there is a 3rd primary reason that I think
Jesus took the time to explain to them the simple step of prayer, and that is
this. That one of the most vital ingredients in prayer, and the one that most
of us probably overlook and leave out above all the rest--and one of those that
is probably the primary reason for the emptiness of our praying--and for the
few specific answers that we receive--and one of the primary reasons that we
see God doing so little--is that we leave out one vital ingredient in our
prayer. And that vital ingredient is mentioned here, which we'll cover in just
a moment. Now I want you to notice the intensity of the progression here. Now
look at what he says. He didn't just say "Pray". He says, "Ask", then he says
"Seek", and then he said "Knock." And what he's saying is that sometimes when
you and I come to him there will be times when the only thing there is for us
to do is to "ask him." We're helpless to do anything else. Let's say that some
great tragedy strikes in some other nation, and there are many people who are
suffering, and you and I sense a need to pray for them. That's the only thing
we can do for them is to pray. On the other hand, there are times when that's
all God wants us to do, be quiet, be still, pray and don't make any move. But
these two are the exceptions to the rule. The times when the only thing we can
do is pray is an exception. And the only times that God wants us to do nothing
but pray is an exception. The general rule for prayer is
you ask, you seek, and you knock. Now listen to how he puts it.
He says, sometimes you ask God for something. And you and I know that's not
sufficient. We're to become involved in the answer. Then we're to seek out the
answer. And oftentimes in the seeking we will have to rap on the door of
opportunity, or rap on the door that oftentimes looks, not like opportunity,
but is a clear direction from God "knock on this door, walk in this
direction--seek out the answer here." And so there is a progression.
All of us would like to think that all prayer is, is just asking God--get on
your knees, say, "Lord, this is what I need. Thank you, in Jesus name, Amen"
and walk off. But you and I know that that's not the truth, that there's
sometimes a struggle to know the will of God. And sometimes we're not sure
exactly what to ask the Lord about certain things. And all of us have asked him
for things...maybe in our ignorance at the time, all of us have asked for
things that it's good God didn't give us. So we simply say, "Ask and it shall
be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened" and that
we're to become involved in the answer.
Now let's say, there is one of
our High School students, and they're looking to know the Lord's will where
they ought to go to college. And so...well, it's like next December, and Dad is
saying "Son, are you or are you not going to college?" "Why sure I'm going."
"Where are you going?" "Well, I'm just waiting on God." "I'm just waiting for
God to give me an answer." Well, in finding out where you ought to go, you
always begin with prayer. In fact, every request, every desire of our heart,
and every need should begin with prayer. That's where it all begins--asking God
for permission. "Is this good for me, before I ask him for my desire?"--seeking
to know his will about that need in my life. But that's the beginning of
prayer. Prayer's not passive, prayer is an active involvement of the person in
their relationship with God. And because Jesus Christ has come into our life,
and because he's now become our life, we have this relationship with him, we
have the right and the authority to come to him and make a request. But the
request is only the first step. And so here's the student desiring to make the
right choice about college. And so what does he do? Now not only does he ask
the Lord to give him direction, but he orders some catalogs, he talks to some
counselors, and then he begins to apply to two or three, knocking on the door
to see if he can get in--to see if his grades are good enough. That's what
prayer involves. For example, someone says, "Well, what I want is a deeper
knowledge of the Word of God--I want a deeper understanding of the Word of
God." And so you lay your Bible down and you start praying, "Lord, give me a
deep understanding of the Scriptures. God, I want to understand your Word."
Well my friend, you can pray all you want to pray. The only way you're going to
get a deeper understanding of this Word is not only to ask, but to
seek by getting into the Word of God, and that's not enough--you're
going to have to knock on the doors of some Scriptures that are going to be
very difficult to understand. And so all of us who've been in the Word at all
know that you ask for the Lord's wisdom and directions and understanding. You
seek, the understanding of that passage by comparing passage with passage, and
you knock on the door--"good, what does this mean?" And you begin to read and
you begin to study and you seek to listen to others and so you're asking and
you're seeking and you're knocking. And so this is the process we're to go
through. Now he says the requests we're to make, we're to make it by asking,
seeking, knocking. He says now, here is the response you can expect. And what
he's doing in this passage is really simply assuring us that our heavenly
Father desires to answer our prayer, and will answer our prayer.
So I
want to ask you again about your own prayer life, and if you had to rate your
score one to ten, how would you come out on real genuine specific answers from
God? One, one and a half, what about two?--three?--four?--seven?--eight? Nobody
can say ten. That is, God does not answer every single thing the day we expect.
(I'm going to come back to that in a few moments.) Though it's interesting, as
best I read the gospels, nowhere in the gospels does Jesus ever discuss
unanswered prayer. It's always answered prayer--"Ask and ye shall receive--if
you should ask anything in my name I will do it."--"Ye shall ask anything in my
name." And so Jesus in discussing prayer always alluded to answered prayer,
because that is what he desires to do. And what he is teaching us here is this,
the heavenly Father is ready to answer your prayer. And it's all very, very
positive. You say, "Well, wait a minute. Is this a blank check that the Lord
has given me, and simply said, 'Now all you have to do is ask--fill it in, and
I'm going to answer it'--when he says "ask and it shall be given"? No, that's
not what it means. But I want you to notice what he says here. What is the
response you and I can expect? Notice that in both of these verses, he
underscores the assurance of an answer. Now look, "Ask, and it shall be given
you." That's a promise of Christ. "Seek, ye shall find." "Knock, it shall be
opened to you." Then he turns right around in verse 8 and in a different
fashion--all through those words in the first verse, are all commands in the
imperative. In the 8th verse all participles, that is, he says,
"Everyone who is asking is receiving, and seeking finding and to him who is
knocking it is being opened. That is, God is in the process of answering
prayer. That is his purpose. That's what all of this is about, to assure us
that he will indeed answer our prayer. Now when he says "everyone" someone says
"Well, what about every one?" Does that mean that anybody and everybody can
ask, seek, knock and find? No. Because the whole entire Sermon on the Mount is
addressed to the believers and followers of Christ. What he said about fasting
and praying and meeting your brother at the altar and not being anxious and
being happy about persecution, no unbeliever's going to understand that. That's
totally oblivious to their whole way of life. That's totally foreign to their
thinking. He's talking about his own children. And what he's simply saying is
that when you and I ask, what happens? Something begins to happen when we ask
and seek and knock. That is, there is a vital element in prayer that most
people overlook. And what is that element? What he says in that 8th
verse, he says (really the 7th verse likewise) "Ask, and keep on
asking. Seek, and keep on seeking. Knock, and keep on knocking." That is,
there is a continuation, there is a persistence, there is an endurance here.
Now we don't just ask, and because things look difficult we stop and hang it up
and we lay it down and we say, "Well Lord, I've asked you, you don't seem to be
very interested, you don't seem to be listening, you don't seem to care. I've
asked you for a whole month, nothing's going on, why should I keep on
praying.?" That's why he puts it in these terms 'Ask and keep on asking, seek
and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking.' He is talking about
steadfastness in prayer. And if you and I were honest today, more than likely,
most of us would have to admit it is very difficult to bring something before
the Lord that you believe that he wants you to do or he wants you to have, or
some need, and you ask, and God is silent. And you ask, and look around and you
don't see anything happen. This goes on for days, then it gets in for weeks,
then it goes on for months. You say, "Why in the world would anybody want to
keep on talking to God about something when you've asked him day after day,
week after week, month after month and nothing has happened? Now, let's put it
this way. You may not see anything happening. But Jesus said, "Ask, and it
shall be given you." "Seek and ye shall find." "Knock and it shall be opened to
you." Either Jesus Christ tells the truth or he doesn't. And you and I know
that he does. And just because there is a lapse of time, a delay in time of our
asking and our receiving does not mean that God isn't doing something or that
he's not answering our prayer. So what you and I may ask is this. Why this
emphasis on perseverance? Why does he say 'Ask and keep on asking?' 'Seek and
keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking'? Why this emphasis on perseverance
here? Well, because God has built in, he has designed delays in the answer. So,
because there is the delay in your receiving the answer you're looking for
doesn't mean that God's up there scratching his head trying to figure out what
to do. Nor does God sense some reluctance, that is, God isn't reluctant to
answer prayer. 'Ask and keep on asking?' 'Seek and keep on seeking, knock and
keep on knocking'? Why this emphasis on perseverance here? Well, because God
has built in, he has designed delays in the answer. So, because there is the
delay in your receiving the answer you're looking for doesn't mean that God's
up there scratching his head trying to figure out what to do. Nor does God
sense some reluctance, that is, God isn't reluctant to answer prayer, God
desires to answer prayer! What does he say, "Ask, Seek, Knock." He says, "it
will be given to you." "You will find it." "It will be opened to you. Just keep
on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking, don't give up, don't stop, don't
lay it down because the going gets rough, and your friends say to you 'Well,
look, if God were going to answer your prayers he should have answered them by
now--must not be his will.'" Now all of us have had to face that. We pray for a
season, we don't see anything happening, so our conclusion is--must not be
God's will. My friend, often times it is God's will, but
there are built-in delays. Now why does God delay? One of the reasons he delays
in answer to our prayers, something that would be evident to all of us, and
that is--if God sees within us attitudes, if he sees in our lifestyle habits,
if he sees within us those attitudes of disobedience, the spirit of rebellion
or bitterness or unforgiveness or whatever it might be--what does God do? Does
he just shut it all down? No. But he delays the answer for a certain while,
because he's a good God and he knows that in order for you to become the person
he wants you to be, you may need exactly what you're asking for. He may alredy
have it on the rail, ready to send your way, but he cannot and he will not,
until you are in a position spiritually to receive it. So one of the reasons he
causes a delay is in order to get us to surface things in our life that are not
right, to deal with them so that you and I can enjoy what God wants to give us.
There are some things that I believe all of us ask for in life that God delays
because he knows if he gave them at that specific time in our frame of mind, we
would make the biggest mess of things imaginable, so he delays.
A second
reason we ask, time goes by, nothing happens is--that God is in the process of
testing our earnestness. That is--how badly do we want it?--and not in order
for him to find out how badly we want it, because he already knows. But if
someone comes to you and says, "Would you do so and so for me?" and you say
"No", and they never say anything about it again, and you say, "Well, they
certainly must not have been very concerned about that, because they only asked
me once and sort of asked me nonchalantly." I wonder how God responds when you
and I come to him and we say, "Lord, here's my need, and you know it's a
desperate need Lord" and I mean on Sunday night you get down to praying. It's a
desperate need. Monday, it's still pretty bad, and Tuesday, it's still there,
and by Friday it has sort of gotten lost in all the rest of the week and all
the rest of the things that have been going on. Do you understand why he said
"Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on
knocking"?--to build into us an earnest spirit. For example, if I want to see
someone saved for whom I'm praying, and I just pray a few times and stop
praying, I don't want to see them saved very badly. If I did, I would keep on
asking. I can name some people that I pray to God "I'm trusting you to save
them, show me what to say and show me how to say it and show me how to confront
them." If we're really earnest, we're not going to ask one time and give it up.
And that's why he says "Pray and keep on praying and keep on asking, and keep
on seeking, and keep on knocking--persevere, don't give up, endure, hang in
there, though you don't see any evidence that God's gonna answer your prayer."
How many testimonies have I heard, especially of wives who've said, "I prayed
for my husband ten years, fifteen years, 20 years before he was saved." Suppose
they said after the first week of marriage "Forget that." But in that woman's
diligent pursuit of God, based on a hungering, thirsting, yearning burden to
see her husband's life changed to the glory of God--not to make her marriage
easier--but to save his soul--God answered her prayer. You say, "Why would God
take 20 years?" Because God respects the human decision-making process in every
single one of us, and our rebelliousness, though God will put tremendous
pressure upon us, the final decision is ours. So there are delays. So let me
ask you a question. The last time you brought something to God and it was
absolutely critical and urgent, red flags flying, red lights flashing in heaven
over your need, how long did you pray? Did it sort of fizzle out within two
weeks? Then ask yourself the question. What degree of concern really drove me
to God? Or did you just stop praying and decide "I'll work this out somehow, my
way. Maybe God will sort of help me do it." He says, "Ask and keep on asking,
seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking." He says "Because God is
going to answer your prayer."
Now, there's another reason. Not only our
earnestness, but he says "ask and keep on asking"--why? Because it's going to
test our faith. [A beautiful book to read that is totally complementary to what
is said here and throughout this sermon is "George Muller: Man of faith and
miracles" by Basil Miller, available online at http://www.amazon.com ] How do you build
faith? By testing it. And how do you test it--how do you test faith? You
withdraw. And God builds in those delays to test our faith. So think about this
for a moment. Why did he put it in this fashion "Ask, keep on asking, seek, and
keep on seeking, knock, and keep on knocking"? Because, as you and I begin to
ask, we begin to seek and we begin to knock, something happens to our
relationship with God. Do you remember what I said in the very introduction of
this message? I asked you a question about your prayer life, the lifestyle of
your prayer life. Is it a haphazard response or is it, is your praying your
method, your way of nourishing the life of Christ within you? You see, when you
and I talk to him, what's happening? We're building a relationship. We're
getting to know him. He already knows us, we're getting to know him--who he is,
the way he operates. Do you realize that what God wants to give you above
everything else, once you become one of his children--he wants to give you
himself. That is, he wants you to know him. You see, God thinks enough about
himself that he's worth knowing. Has your wife ever said to you, your husband
ever said to you "I want you to know me"? "I want you to know me." And you
know, to know some people is to love them more and more, they become dear and
you begin to cherish them. You cherish their friendship. Why? You get to know
them. You understand them. You begin to see how they think and you begin to
understand their feelings and why they act the way they do. What does he do? He
withholds the answer. He delays the answer, but he says "Keep on praying"
because if you cease praying when God delays the answer you don't build a
relationship, you've gone and done your own thing. And what happens? We miss
what God has for us. The delays are built in by Divine design based on the very
best.
Then it also develops patience within us. God develops patience
when we wait, we endure until God's timing. And then one of the primary reasons
that God delays our answers is because his timing does not always match
ours. Now, there may be times in your life and mine when God will begin to
burden us to pray about something that he has no intention of answering for six
months. "So now, wait a minute. Why would God want to bring something to my
attention that I would pray for, for six months before he knows he's going to
answer it? Why doesn't he wait till the week before?" Well, I'll tell you why.
Because God wasn't born in the instant age, he's not interested in
instant anything. He's interested in what is best for you and me. So what does
God do for six long months? Here's what he does. He builds our faith. He builds
our endurance. He intensifies our earnestness. What begins as asking is now
seeking and is beginning to be knocking. And we're hanging in there, we are
trusting him. And God's building a relationship, he's showing us himself. He's
teaching us things about himself that we would never learn any other way, and
God is far more interested in our knowing him than getting from him all the
things that our heart desires. So he builds within us these character qualities
in that time in which he delays. And so he says, "Ask and keep on asking, seek,
and keep on seeking, knock, and keep and knocking." Why? Because God has
something very, very precious in mind. Now let me ask you a question. I want
you to listen very carefully to this, because I want you to think about it. Why
is it that you and I so easily give up when God doesn't answer our prayer right
now? Now you and I understand that people don't pray because of pride. You
know, we can do it ourselves. Sometimes it's ignorance. There are lots of
reasons why people don't pray. But why is it that those of us who do pray, why
is it when we begin and we don't get the answer we think we ought to, why do we
give up? Why do we quit praying so often? And if we were honest, all of us
would have to admit there are times, we get the prayer list out and we put this
name down or this object of prayer, and we're gonna intercede and we're gonna
pray to God and cry out to him--and somehow after awhile we just sort of pass
right over that one. Why is it, in our prayer life? Now let me go one step
further. Why is it not only for specific things, but our prayer life in
general--would you say that prayer is a vital integral part of your daily
schedule and your daily life? When we say that Jesus Christ is the center of
our life there is no way for Jesus Christ to be the center of my life, the core
of my life--there is no way for Jesus Christ to be my life in all practicality
unless I am a praying man, there is no way. Because if Jesus Christ is my life,
in a practical sort of fashion, then I'm going to get up [in the morning]
talking to him. I'm going to be talking and sharing and relating with him all
during the day. He's my life! Now, why is it my Christian
friend, you've been saved and know you're saved. You may be a deacon, you may
sing in the choir, you may be faithful, you may be a pastor, you may be a staff
member on somebody's staff somewhere--why is it that you become so involved in
so many other things that prayer begins to get sifted aside and laid aside over
here, and you diligently go about serving the Lord in your own strength, in
your own wisdom. But in your mind, you say, "I'm doing this for Jesus and God's
in all of this." But when it comes to seeking the face of God, when it comes to
asking specifically day after day, calling people's names and asking about this
need in the church--why do you lay that aside? I want to give you an answer
that every person needs to soberly listen to. The primary reason that you
and I give up and we quit and we lay the praying aside so easily is because
we're unwilling for God to dig with his knife, cutting into, delving into the
innermost being, searching out, seeking out, desiring to surface those things
in our life that need to be dealt with--we don't want him dealing with them, we
don't want him messing with them, we want him to leave them alone--"this is our
request, this is our need--don't bother with this." We don't like God
weaving his way into the depths of our thinking and our feeling, dealing with
feelings and thoughts that are secret and private to ourselves. We don't like
it. Now, my friend, I know that's the truth, I know that personally, and I know
it's a general attitude. There's been times when I've gotten on my knees,
talked to God about something, and it's like I could see where he was heading,
I knew what he was coming after. And it's like I want to say, "Well thank you
Father, in Jesus name Amen!" And I want to get on my way doing my own thing,
because I didn't want to deal with it. Now it's funny, and it's tragic, isn't
it? We don't want God dealing with certain areas of our life, because you see,
the truth is, we have them all set in a nice fashion over here, and as far as
we're concerned, that's really none of God's business. I mean, we've already
handled that. And so we want to go over here where we're interested in things
that we're concerned about, and we don't want God tampering around with
anything private. Well, my friend, one of the primary reasons we don't pray is
because we're not willing for God to take his surgery knife and begin to open
us up all the way down to the innermost being and deal with things we've never
dealt with before in our life. So we just drop it. In fact, we're so afraid
it's gonna be so painful, that we chose to give up God's very best blessing in
order to avoid the pain that may be ours by having to deal with what's on the
inside of us. Now you let that sink into your heart real good, because the next
time you get down to praying and you get tempted to get up and let's get on
with it and do something else, you need to ask yourself that question--"God,
why do I quit so soon?" "Why don't I hang in there and keep talking to you?"
And you know, in my own heart, I've had struggles in prayer, there have been
times when I want to give up and quit. But I learned something a long time ago.
And God put such a heavy burden on my heart for something I was praying for,
it's like everything in me wanted to quit, just wanted to stop!--I didn't want
to pray anymore about it, but it's like the Spirit of God kept saying to me
"Don't quit now, don't stop now." Did you realize that one of the largest veins
of gold ever discovered in America was discovered three feet from where the
last miners stopped digging? Do you know the problem with us, that just beyond
where we quit, just beyond where we stop is God's very choice blessing. But we
don't want to deal with what God wants to deal with, and so we stop short of it
and we miss it. I learned a lesson, when you want to stop, don't
stop. When everything in you says, "Quit praying about it", keep
on praying. Now if God says to you "This is not my will, here's what my will
is." Then naturally you're gonna turn. But I mean if there's something there
that you believe that God is dealing in your life about or there's some need
there, don't stop. That's why he said, "Ask, keep on asking, seek, keep on
seeking, knock, keep on knocking." Don't give up, persevere, hang in there no
matter what, because God wants to answer that prayer. And I have learned that
when I want to stop, if I'll keep on--I can think of times right now when
everything in me wanted to stop. And I would just keep on praying and keep on
crying out to God and sure enough it would be just like suddenly with no
warning the veil lifts and there is the answer staring me right in the face. If
I had quit the day before I'd had to make some foolish decision on my own.
There's nowhere in the Bible that says prayer is easy. There is a struggle. And
there will be times when Satan will attack you on your knees, he'll do
everything in his power, he will harass you with doubt. He will send thoughts
in your mind, you'd think, "God, where in the world did this come from?"--has
nothing to do with what you're talking about to him. And so our natural
response is, "Well I might as well get up and go, I'll come back later." Jesus
said, "Ask, and keep on asking, seek, keep on seeking, knock, keep on
knocking." Don't give up.
Now, listen to what he says in the last part
of the passage. He gives an illustration, a simple illustration that every
follower of him would have understood, and of course all of us understand.
Verse 9, he said now, on the basis of that, "What man is there among you when
his son shall ask him for a loaf of bread will he give him a stone? Or if he
shall ask for a fish, will he not give him a snake, will he? If you then being
evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your
heavenly Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask him?" So
that last thing Jesus says in this passage is this. Here's the reassurance,
here's the reassurance that you and I can have to enjoy. What are the steps?
Ask, seek, knock. He says, "Here's the reassurance that you can I need to enjoy
our prayer life. You know, somebody says, "Well, I got to go pray. It's time
for my prayer time, got to go talk to God."--as if it were some terrible chore.
Let me ask you a question. Is it a chore to talk to Jesus?--who said "Ask,
seek, knock"? The chore is not in talking to him, but in struggles that we have
within ourselves. And so he says "Here's the reassurance." And he gives an
illustration that anybody would understand. He says, now if a son says to you,
comes in, been out playing football, scratched up, got grass all over his
pants, messed up his shoes, knocked off the heel, and says "Dad, I am starving
to death for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." Dad, would you pick up a rock
and say, "Son, sit down, shut up and eat this stone"? You wouldn't do that.
You'd get out the peanut butter, crunchy kind, and the jelly, and probably
about three slices of bread, and I mean, you'd put one big layer of peanut
butter, and one big layer of jelly, and besides that, you'd add a big glass of
milk and sit down and say "Tell me about it all." That's what a loving father
does. Your daughter comes in and she says "Mom, I'm starving to death for a
hotdog and I just can't wait any longer." "Sit down and shut up, I found this
scorpion out on the steps. You eat that before we have lunch." No, you wouldn't
do that. You'd get the hotdog out, put it on the grill or broil it or whatever
you do, and put some mustard and ketchup and relish on it and ask "Is there
anything else she wants on it?" That's what a loving father [or mother] does.
Do you know what Jesus is saying in this passage? He's saying "I want to tell
you, the Father loves you. He wants to answer your prayer. But you've got to
ask him and keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. The answer's
coming." And he simply says in this passage, "Listen, if you then being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much"--listen, do you see how
he put it?--"How much more"--now when he says "evil", he's talking about people
like us, who sin against God at times in our life. He says, "If you, who sin
against the Father, know how to give good gifts to your children, and you're
very imperfect, he says, "How much more will a perfect, loving, generous, kind,
tender, forgiving Father who is omnipotent and omniscient, how much more will
he give good things to those who ask him?" Let me ask you this. When you get on
your knees before God, what kind of thoughts come into your mind? Do you bow
your head because you feel unworthy? I don't mean in a spirit of humility, but
just an unhealthy kind of unworthiness. Do you get on your knees, and you begin
to be frustrated because you think "Oh, I hope God's listening"? That is, what
do you really feel? Let me tell you what you ought to feel. If you kneel to
pray, you ought to be able to get on your knees and say "Lord Jesus, I praise
your name that you're my life. I thank you that I can come to you in confidence
because you said "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek, and ye shall find,
knock and it shall be opened unto you." And Lord I'm coming. I'm coming as your
child, confident that you're listening to what I'm saying. Confident that
you're going to answer my prayer. I praise you, and I accept ahead of time the
answers for my prayer." What a difference from getting on your knees and
saying, "Oohh God, I hope you're listening." But that is exactly where most
folks come from. Not with confidence and a boldness and assurance that a loving
Father is listening and desirous to answer prayer. So what is he saying in this
passage? Very simple, he says several things. Your heavenly Father is ready to
answer your prayer. Secondly, your heavenly Father knows what your needs are
before you ask him. Your heavenly Father will always respond. Listen, your
heavenly Father will always respond out of pure love and infinite wisdom. That
is, whatever he does is gonna be an expression of love, and it's gonna be an
answer that is an answer of an all-wise God who knows exactly what you need.
And he is also saying that when you pray, God's answer will always be good.
It'll always be good. And he says the answer is always gonna be best suited
just for you. Every answer from God is an expression of pure love and infinite
wisdom. Now, we don't always like the answers God gives. He didn't say he'd
just give you anything you ask. He says, "Ask and it shall be given you, seek
and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you." You say, "Well, wait
a minute. That sounds like a blank check to me." But notice the last verse. He
says, "If you then being evil know how to give good gifts to your
children"--listen, here's the key--"how much more will the heavenly Father give
good things to those who ask him?" You know what he promises? He promises that
everything he gives is good for us. Now, my friend, God only can act with what
is his nature. That is, if you ask for something that is a pure indulgence on
your part, if you ask God to indulge your selfish whim, your selfish desire,
God isn't going to do that. You know why he's not going to? Because he's made
you a promise he wouldn't. Do you want God to give you something that will harm
you?--Or that could ultimately destroy your life? If all of us were really
honest, we'd probably say, "Well, I'd probably ask for some things like that."
But do you really want God to give you anything in answer to your prayer that
will harm you or destroy your life? Not really. God isn't going to answer with
those things that will harm or destroy. He says, "Here's the limitation. What I
give you is going to be good." And the faithfulness of God is at stake. He will
never violate his faithfulness. "What I give you is going to be
good."
Now, what are the simple steps to praying the Bible way? They're
real simple. Asking, seeking, knocking and trusting a loving all-wise God to
give you his good answer. It's not a blank check. It's better than that. It is
God's faithfulness, promising to answer your needs and your desires, and when
they have filtered--listen--when your requests have filtered through the
all-wise mind of God and his wonderful Spirit of pure love, it always comes out
for us good, perfect, and best. And if you'll simply remember that next time
you get on your knees, God will begin to answer specific requests, big requests
as well as little requests. And you can point to them as examples of God's
specific answer to your prayer. Let me remind you of something. Don't worry
about asking God for something too big. I can tell you in advance, you can't
ask God for anything so big that God can't do it if God deems it good. In fact,
the truth is, God is honored by big requests. If you come to the Lord and say
"Father, I don't want to ask you something too big now." What you're implying
is, he can't cut it. He can't handle it. God is honored by great requests,
difficult requests, impossible requests, when we ask, seek, and knock and trust
our loving Father to always answer for what is good. If you'll take that simple
truth and apply it to your heart, God will transform your prayer life. When he
transforms your prayer life, he transforms your life, your relationships, your
effectiveness, the life of your family, your business and those with whom you
associate. The privilege of prayer is a heritage which belongs to every single
child of God--a potential that is beyond the human understanding of man, a work
of God's grace, that he's given to each one of us. And it is my prayer that you
will not let that heritage be wasted in your life, but that you will allow God
to make you the man, the woman, the young person that he's chosen to make you,
as you learn to relate to him and nourish that inner being of Christ in your
prayer life and make your prayer life daily an ongoing intimate relationship in
conversation with the Lord Jesus Christ."
"And Father we thank you and
praise you for this simplicity of your Word. We try to make it difficult, you
make it simple. You offer such profound and yet simple answers to our
questions, to our needs. I pray in Jesus name that somebody who's struggling
with some issue in his or her life may be willing first of all to humble
themselves before you, and ask that you surface any things and all things in
their heart that should not be there. Deal with them and then allow you to
answer in your generosity, in your love, in your pure wisdom. I pray Father for
someone who is unsaved that they might understand what they are missing by not
having Christ and the privilege of prayer, that you do not answer the prayers
of the lost except the prayer for forgiveness and the prayer for salvation of
their sin. I pray that somebody today would give their life to Christ. That
those who have made prayer an insignificant part of their life might recognize
there will be no real development of a relationship until prayer becomes a
priority, is my plea to you, in Jesus name. Amen."
IN TOUCH ®
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 IN TOUCH MINISTRIES ®, ITM,
Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, USA, used with permission. All rights reserved.