ASK RIGHT AND YOU WILL RECEIVE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise.

Jeremiah 17:14

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Perhaps one of the greatest blessings we have in life is knowing that the very God who created us is always with us and for us through every step of the way during this thing called life. We were not just made and then left to fend for ourselves in a world full of so much hardship and challenge and evil and sin. Rather, we can endure through the highs and lows of life because we know that through it all, we are not forgotten or forsaken but rather watched over by a God who can do all things.

This truth should always guide us to an attitude of faith and trust that can never be broken unless we allow it to. It should lead us to a place where we can remain strong even when we don’t feel we have the strength to go on. It should place a sense of confidence within us that there is nothing in our lives that God can’t handle when we maintain and sustain our hope in Him.

The matter of our heavenly Father’s availability was touched upon by Jesus in His initial teachings when He said the following:

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

When we are faithful to God and place our full commitment in Him then we can full expect to receive that same sense of commitment in return. Thus, when we raise our petitions to God, we know they are received because God’s word assures us of such. He always opens the door to His strength and wisdom and guidance when we knock upon us and will answer us in accordance with His will for our lives.

That’s right. It’s not just a matter of us asking God for something and He gives us what we ask for because maybe we are asking for something that would be bad for us or others. Or maybe even more so, what we are asking for is not in accordance with His will. Look at these words from 1 John as they expound on the words of Jesus and provide the proper clarity we need:

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him. 1 John 5:14-15

You see, when we ask of God, there is a preliminary step we need to use in our asking. For our initial words need to be directed toward what His will is for us before we ask for anything else. We need to seek God and ask Him to do in our lives what He sees fit to accomplish the purposes He has for us and then wait to receive His guidance and direction. Once He gives that to us and reveals His will, then we need to pray again and ask Him to provide whatever we need to ensure His will is done. Then, He will provide for us what He wants us to have.

In this revised process of approaching prayer and our requests toward God, note where God is the object of attention. If we only asked Him to give us what we wanted, the focus would be on ourselves and we would just be using God as a convenient Provider. But when we make Him the central element, the One who is in control of all things as He is, then we allow our lives to revolve around His desires and not our own.

As we look at our scripture verse today we find Jeremiah acknowledging God for who He is and for what He could do for His servant prophet. Look again at these words:

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for You are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:14

Note here that the Lord is the center of Jeremiah’s attention. He saw God as the One who was capable of healing and saving him. There is no turning to anyone or anything else for the Lord was the One who was the One who Jeremiah reserved all his praise and glory toward.

Friends, are we asking for things from God with the right approach, asking in a way that is God-centered rather than self-centered?

The first places a premium on God’s will; the second our own.

One will yield results while the other may or may not because in the end translation, things are always going to happen in God’s perfect way and in His perfect time in accordance with what He sees as best for His children.

When we get it, we not only know how to ask and receive but in doing so, we honor God the right way, the way prescribed by the scriptures.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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