Date: February 5th, 2012
Speaker: Pastor Kevin Snyder
Title: Learning to Ask
Text: John 14:13,14, James 4:2-3
Introduction
Have you ever noticed how hard it is to ask for something?
i.e.
help
money
service
Often we are reluctant to ask other people for help and that also translate into our relationship with God.
We begin to move into some of the mysteries and difficulties of prayer when enter this arena of “asking”.
1. WHY ASK?
3 reasons:
1.1 Jesus Told us to
John 14:13 – 14
13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
John 15:7
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
John 16:23
23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
1.2 God loves to give good gifts
Luke 18: 1 – 8
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Luke 11: 9-12
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
1.3 We long for change
Paul Miller writes:
“The issue of power – the ability to make a difference, to change something is at the heart of our asking.”
We ask because we are powerless. We acknowledge God’s power and authority. And we long to see his arm moved to bring about a change in us, people, or circumstances.
And so we are encouraged to come and ask:
2. “ASKING” STRUGGLES
As I said though asking is hard.
James 4:2b – 3 identifies 2 tendencies in us when it comes to asking.
2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
One tendency is…
2.1 “DON’T ASK”
Why don’t we ask?
a. Cynicism – As we grow older we have a tendency to grow more cynical. Children aren’t cynical. They tend to believe…to trust.
"Cynicism begins with the wry assurance that everyone has an angle. Behind every silver lining is a cloud. The cynic is always observing, critiquing, but never engaged, loving, and hoping.”
The 1st cynic we hear about in Scripture is the serpent in Gen 3. His 1st recorded words are cynical. He tells Adam & Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.” Satan is suggesting God’s motives are cynical. In essence he says, “God has not been honest about the tree in the center of the garden. The command to not eat of it isn’t for your protection; God wants to protect himself from rivals. He appears to be doing this to protect you but he really has an agenda to protect himself. God has 2 faces.”
Satan seductively gives Adam & Eve the inside track – here is what is “really going on”
- Cynicism feels like we can’t find the joy in something , like we are too aware to hope or trust. It is the opposite of a childlike spirit.
- Cynicism says “It would have happened anyways.”
- Cynicism says “Don’t get your hopes us, it probably won’t happen.”
- Cynicism says “Prayer doesn’t work.”
And so we don’t ask because we given way to a cynical spirit.
2.2 Fear
Sometimes we don’t ask because we are afraid.
Paul Miller makes the statement “Prayer is hazardous to your faith.” If you want to have faith it is better to not pray. Because when you ask, and God answers differently or more slowly, you are are often thrown into a crisis of faith.
You ask: “Where are you God?”
- “Why don’t you hear me?”
- “Does not this pray line up with your character?”
- “Why don’t you heal this person?
- “Why don’t you change this person?”
- “Why don’t you change these circumstances I am in?”
And so, it’s easier to not ask than it is to wrestle with some of the questions of faith that happen when we engage.
Teresa of Avila once wrote this tongue in cheek
“Lord, you would have more friends if you treated the ones you had a little better.”
Prayer is dangerous. It engages us in a relationship. It engages us with questions and dialogue. We can’t remain aloof…disengaged…cliché. It makes prayer personal.
And for those reasons sometimes we don’t ask because of fear.
Transition
On the other side of the road is the other struggle that affects our asking.
b. ASKING SELFISHLY
Selfishness can permeate our asking.
Sometimes we want God to become our personal genie and not a person. Our asking resembles “My wish is your command.”
i.e.
Think of the asking a child does:
They will ask for everything. They want money for “stuff.” They want to go to unsafe places. They want no curfews. They want expensive toys. They want Disneyland every year.
Do we give them everything? No.
Is it because they aren’t sincere. Not at all. They are so sincere. They passionately want it.
But do we give them everything?
Not if you are a good parent.
Why?
Because it isn’t good for them. Some of it isn’t wise.
Often we ask but don’t even realize the selfishness of our hearts.
Sometimes we hear people joke about praying to win the lottery…Why?
Most of the time it is so we can do like the rich fool said in Luke “Take life easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.” Usually the dream is pretty self-indulgent.
Does a good parent seek to create self-indulgent children? No, and neither does God.
So, these are a couple of dangers along the way.
Example
But how do we stay real and yet not selfish? Sometimes we really want something….we desire something. To pretend we don’t want it is being less than real. But to ask feels selfish like we are trying to “control” God…
Transition
And so here are 2 ditches we can fall into in our asking.
- The ditch of not asking because we have given in to cynicism, and fear.
- Or the ditch of asking selfishly or not asking at all because we feel it is selfish.
3. HOW DO WE ASK?
In the verses we read in John, Jesus tells us some things about how we are to ask.
3.1 According To His Will
There is a balance here.
Balance between being real and expressing our desires… and yet submitting those desires to God.
This really is a control- submission issue.
Another delicate balance to our prayers….over control.
- We try to control what is the outcome….leads to despair because we don’t have control or power.
- Other side is where we slip into demanding our will on God. We try to control God….make him our genie. We use God to get our will.
But what Jesus is getting at is learning to bring it and submit it….to come humbly and surrendering control to God. Coming with our desires but coming submissively.
i.e. Jesus prayer in Gethsemane is a great model.
Jesus prays:
Father, if it is possible let this cup pass from me, …
What is Jesus human desire?
He’s real. Avoid the pain. Avoid the cross. Avoid the horrific events before him. He brings those to the Father.
“But” , he continues “not my will but thy will be done.”
He submits his will to God.
He acknowledges his desires, but doesn’t command them be met…but submits.
Jesus invites us to come with our desires but to surrender the control….trust the outcome. Give it to him….not keep it and despair, nor demand it as if God has to do it our way.
“Closer prayers are to the heart of God more powerfully they are answered.”
3.2 In His name
John 14:13 – 14
13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
What does that mean?
Do we just attach his name to our prayers….if we do that insures better success?
p. 135
“Imagine that your prayer is a poorly dressed beggar reeking of alcohol and body odor, stumbling toward the palace of the great king. You have become your prayer. As youshuffle toward the barred gate, the guards stiffen. Your smell has preceded you. You stammer out a message for the great king: “I want to see the king.” Your words are barely intelligible, but you whisper one final word, “Jesus, I come in the name of Jesus.” At the name of Jesus, as if by magic, the palace comes alive. The guards snap to attention, bowing low in front of you. Lights come on, doors fly open. You are ushered into the palace and down a long hallway into the throne room of the great king, who comes running to you and wraps you in his arms. …” He sees you as his adopted child. He recognises you as a child bought out of slavery by Jesus Christ. And he asks : “What is it ,my child?”
Paul Miller concludes:
“The name of Jesus gives my prayers royal access. They get through. Jesus isn’t just the Savior of my soul. He’s also the Saviour of my prayers…”Asking in Jesus name” isn’t another thing I have to get right so my prayers are perfect. It is one more gift of God because my prayers are imperfect.”
One of the gifts of God is you come in Jesus’ name…
3.3 Boldly & Specifically
Hebrews 4: 16 (The Message)
So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Stories:
a. Center
Added to Katie’s story is a couple of other answered prayers…
Prayer this would be fundraiser…needed sell out for it to raise money….and so with ticket sales we looked to lose money. Donna and many of us praying that not be the case…
Last Sunday morning – handed Jim a cheque for $2000 to cover. On Monday someone else came in with cheque for $1000.
b. Staff
In prep for this series we identified some battles & needs that we would specifically “storm the mountain for” as a staff.
- Volunteers
- So many areas…worship, kids, youth…
- People come to Christ
Not content that be an occasional thing…but regular…God would be adding to his church.
- Greater spiritual engagement by congregation
Last Tues at lunch I just shared from my chair how I had witnessed God’s activity.
- We had witnessed God raise up several youth people.
- Last Sunday 2 people approached me about getting involved…Last week 4 people.
- That week we had one person come to Christ and some others that expressed their need and desire to change paths from self-dependence to God-dependence.
- In this series , we had to double order the “Praying Life” books ….moved about 50 books.
- 20+ people engaged in group on prayer.
c. Personal
Brought you into my car story…my tendency in the past to exclude God from those big areas…end up with material self and spiritual self….desire to integrate those 2.
Well, I ended up getting a car and saw God’s hand in it.
i.e.
Truck sale for example:
- $2000 - $2500
- Listed at $3400
- Within 10 mins had a call…saw neighbours house in back of my picture and are friends with them. Told him about truck. Basically sold it on phone and came and finished the deal the next day.
Why do I share all that?
Because I think God desires us to get specific and to come confidently. It enables us to see his hand.
Think about it:
i.e.
Praying for children
i.e.
- for Christian friends
- for specific character trait you know they need…or against a temptation they face
- pray for spiritual conversations
But often we pray “Lord, be with my kids”…what does an answer look like to that?
Praying for marriage difficulty
- pray for self – to be patience , for a humble heart, for desire to make it better, to be able to forgive
- pray for spouse – softening of heart towards you, for a change in a specific behavior, for spiritual appetite…
This morning as finish this message on asking, the exercise today is to ask. Not just talk about it, but for us to walk into that throne room and bring our request before the king…submit it to Him.
I want to invite you to ASK.
James 5:13 -15
Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
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The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 15:7). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 16:23–24). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 18:1–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. 2011 (Lk 11:5–13). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. 2011 (Jas 4:2–3). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New International Version. 2011 (Jn 14:13–14). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
Peterson, E. H. (2002). The Message : The Bible in contemporary language (Heb 4:16). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.
Peterson, E. H. (2002). The Message : The Bible in contemporary language (Jas 5:13–15). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.