• The red-necks who lived in that region.
• And some of the strong brew they made in that area.
The man who was driving from that region said, “Yes, I have lived here all my life and we make some strong brew, If I must say so myself.”
The man stated he had some of that strong brew and asked the young man if he would like to take a drink.
The young man stated he never touched the stuffed and refused. However, the old man persisted. Each time he offered the young man a drink, he would turn him down.
He soon took offence to him turning him down and pulled out a pistol and aimed it at his head and said, “I said, now take a drink.”
The young man took a drink and immediately began to choke on the strong brew, and said, “HOW CAN ANYONE DRINK THAT STUFF?”
Then the driver handed him the pistol and said, “Now aim the pistol at my head and make me take a drink!”
I hope that you have come into this service with a willing heart to receive the Word of God because Iam going to be preaching on PRAYER IS THE KEY TO HEAVEN.
This passage of scripture today deals with something that affects everyone of us.
Everyone here has to deal with:
• Pain.
• Diseases.
• Divorce.
• Death.
• Sickness.
• Disappointments.
• Immorality.
• Greed.
• Loneliness
• And etc.
All of these things are a part of our lives.
The question is how DO WE DEAL WITH THESE THINGS IN PRAYER?
I would like to show you three things in this passage of scripture. First, let us look at:
I. A POSSIBILITY
Look at James 1:5a. James says, “If any of you lack wisdom...”
Every day in life we need wisdom to solve problems that confront us.
Illus: Makes me think of the bus driver that had the wisdom of Solomon.
Two women in a bus were fighting bitterly over the last seat available.
• The conductor already tried to intervene but to no avail.
• So the driver shouted, "Let the ugly one take the seat!"
• Both women stood for the rest of the journey.
Even animals need WISDOM to survive!
Illus: A cruel pet owner abandons his old dog in the deepest jungles of Africa. Wandering around, the poor old dog notices a leopard coming rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.
• Just then, the old dog noticed some bones laying on the ground close by. The dog immediately settles down to chew on the bones turning his back to the approaching leopard.
• Just as the leopard is about to leap, the dog loudly says: "My, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?"
• Hearing this, the leopard slinks away. "That was too close," thought the leopard, "that dog nearly had me."
• Meanwhile, a mischievous monkey had observed the entire scene, and decided to cause trouble for the dog, while getting on the good side of the leopard as well.
• The monkey dashed off after the leopard, to tell him what truly happened.
• The dog saw the monkey dash off, and suspiciously tailed him from behind.
• He overhears the monkey spilling the beans, and quickly decides on a course of action, racing back to the pile of bones.
• At the same time, the leopard has decided to take care of the dog once and for all.
• The monkey hops on the leopard's back, to watch the demise of the doomed dog.
• As the leopard approaches, he can hear the dog talking to himself.
• "Where's that lazy monkey? I sent him off half an hour ago for another leopard, and he's still not back!"
A lot of folks stay in trouble because they lack wisdom of God to survive.
Notice, this passage starts off with the little word “If”.
James is being kind, there is no doubt about it, we all face things in our life that we do not have the slightest idea of how to deal with them.
In fact, we often hear people say, “I do not know what to do!” And they do not know!
? The Word of God says the first thing we should do is to turn to God for WISDOM.
? Notice, he does not say we are to turn to God for KNOWLEDGE!
DO YOU KNOW WHY?
Illus: Knowledge is the ability to take things apart, while wisdom is the ability to put them together.
That is, when you talk with them about the problems of life, it is obvious that they have grasped the facts of life. They understand what the problem is, but the truth is, they do not know what to do with the problem.
James says as we face the problems of life we ARE NOT to turn to God and ask for KNOWLEDGE, but we are to ASK FOR WISDOM.
WISDOM let’s us know what to do with the problems of life. God in His wisdom might say:
(1) Do a certain thing
(2) Say a certain thing
(3) Don’t say anything
God give us the wisdom to know what to do in certain situation.
James is being kind when he says, “If any man lacks wisdom....”, he knew what we know, we all lack wisdom and that is why we should turn to God for WISDOM.
We have looked at A POSSIBILITY.
Let me show you something else from God’s Word concerning wisdom, let us look at:
II. A PRAYER
Look at verse 5b, we read, “...Let him ask of God...”
Illus: When you hear a Christian say, “I have this problem and I do not know what to do with it.” They are telling you something about themselves, they are saying, “I have this problem and I have not turned to God for wisdom to know what to do with it.”
Look at verse 5 again, we read, “If any of you lack wisdom, LET HIM ASK OF GOD...”
Why is it that when we have a problem, we ASK EVERYONE ELSE before we ask God.
The Bible says the first thing we should do is, “...Let him ask of God...”
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Notice, this verse of scripture has probably been preached on as much as any scripture in the Bible. And there is a reason for that because it has so much to teach us.
Once we have done what God has commanded us to do, God has an obligation to do what He said He would do.
WHAT IS THAT?
Look at the PROVISION He has promised.
III. A PROVISION.
Look at verse 5 again, we read, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
Illus: During the year of 2021 our country developed a big problem. During this time we had a supply chain Crisis.
Recently the news reported two thousand and five Hundred ships loaded with cargo can not get unloaded because of this crisis.
I say that to say this when our country can not get their supplies many of the stores shelves are empty and we are told it is going to get a lot worse before it get better.
And we christians when our supplies are cut off we are in a mess in our individual lives.
And one of the best ways to get our supplies cut off God’s Word says YOU HAVE NOT BECAUSE YOU ASK NOT.
Soon the shelves are empty and inflation become a major problem with supply and demand.
But God is our supplier and He has promised if we would seek Him first ALL OF OUR NEEDS WILL BE SUPPLIED.
Notice THREE things God has obligated himself to do once we ask.
(1) THE LIBERALITY
The word “Liberal” is a dirty word to conservatives.
Why? Because we generally think of a liberal as someone who gives away our tax money to people who are to lazy to work.
But the word “Liberality” here means, “Not stingy.”
That is, when we come to God for WISDOM to face the trials of life, God is not stingy with HIS WISDOM.
Illus: Matt and his wife lived in the country. Matt was very stingy and hated spending money. One day a fair came to the nearby town."Let’s go to the fair, Matt,” his wife said, “We haven’t been anywhere for a long time.”Matt thought about this for a while. He knew he would have to spend money at the fair. At last he said, “All right, but I’m not going to spend much money. We’ll look at things, but we won’t buy anything.”
They went to the fair and looked at all the things to buy. There were many things Matt’s wife wanted to buy, but he would not let her spend any money.
Then, in a nearby field, they saw a small airplane. "Fun flight!” the notice said, “$10 for 10 minutes.”
Matt had never been on an airplane and he wanted to go on a fun flight. However, he didn’t want to have to pay for his wife, as well.
"I’ve only got $10,” he told the pilot. “Can my wife come with me for free?”
The pilot wasn’t selling many tickets, so he said , “I’ll make a bargain with you. If your wife doesn’t scream or shout, she can have a free flight. Matt agreed, and got into the small airplane with his wife. The pilot took off and made his airplane do all kinds of things.
1) He flew upside down
2) He did a number of belly rolls
3) He did several nose dives headed for ground
When the plane landed, the pilot said, “O.K. your wife didn’t make a sound . She can have her ride free. "Thank you,” Matt said. “It wasn’t easy for her, you know, especially when she fell out.”
Some people in life are stingy.
Illus: Have you ever been to a restaurant where they served a buffet. But when it comes to something that is expensive as a roast, you do not serve yourself, they have someone there to cut you off a slice.
Listen, these people who do this cutting are the most trained people in that restaurant. That is, it is absolutely amazing how they can cut that slice so thin and with one roast they can feed five thousand people.
Illus: Have you ever been in a restaurant and asked for a cup of coffee and when the waitress brings it to you it is only a half cup.
But God is not that way, God has promised that if we would come to Him, that He, “giveth to all men liberally.”
The reason that people do not know what to do with their problems is not because God will not tell them WHAT TO DO, they do not know because they will not ASK HIM.
Illus: F.B. Meyer, the author of the great little book, The Secret of Guidance said, "The great tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer, but un-offered prayer."
Illus: Prayer instead of it being something we do everyday, like breathing, eating and walking and talking, it seems to have become like that little glass covered box on the wall that says, "break in case of emergency."
Illus: I heard a story the other day of a man who encountered a bit of trouble while flying his airplane.
• He called the control tower and said, "Pilot to tower, I'm 300 miles from the airport, six hundred feet above the ground, and I'm out of fuel. I am descending rapidly.
• Please advise. Over."
• "Tower to pilot," the dispatcher began, "Repeat after me: "Our Father Who art in heaven...'"
Prayer is, for the most part for many christians, prayer is practiced less than anything else. And yet, for the believer it remains one of the greatest gift our Lord has given us outside of salvation.
THE GREATEST TRADGEDY FOR MANKIND TODAY IS THAT MANKIND FACE ALL KINDS OF TRADGEDIES YEAR AFTER YEAR AND HAVE NOT BECAUSE THEY ASK NOT!!!
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?
• Lay in the bed and toss and turn all night…how is that working for you! Worry never has and never will solve a problem!
• Talk to your friend who has personal problems they can not solve… how is that working for you!
• Just ignore your problem and hope they are going to go away…. how is that working for you!
The Bible tells us to SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD and he will give us the wisdom we need to solve the problem!!!
Next God tell us when we come to Him with all of our problems Come to Him and he…
(2) UPBRAIDETH NOT
Look at verse 5 again, we read, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, AND UPBRAIDETH NOT...”
WHAT DOES THE WORD UPBRAID MEAN?
Illus: Vincent in his Word Studies in the New Testament says it means, “Pure, simple giving of good without a mixture of evil or bitterness.”
Illus: Did you know that many times when we seek WISDOM from people they give us their wisdom that has been tainted with evil.
• This is why teenagers have ruined their lives, because they listened to someone who gave them advice that had a portion of the truth, but it also contain enough poison to destroy their lives.
• This is why marriages have been destroyed, because one of the mates sought council from someone who gave them a portion of the truth, but also it was full of deadly poison that destroyed their marriage.
Now the implication from this portion of the verse is that you can get wisdom from other places. But the wisdom we get from other places is TAINTED WISDOM!
But when God gives us HIS WISDOM we can rest assure that every bit of it is given without any mixture of evil.
Also, upbraideth not, means that no matter how many times we come to God, God will not scold us and say, “Listen, dummy, you have been coming to me over and over again, I am getting tired of this!”
No! If we come to Him with something ten thousand times He will not UPBRAID US!
If we call upon God, He gives:
• Liberally.
• Without a mixture of evil.
As sure as you come, God says IT SHALL BE GIVEN TO YOU.
But look at one more thing. We have seen:
• A POSSIBILITY.
• A PRAYER.
Look at-
IV. A PROVISION
Look at verses 6-8, we read, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
Let me show you several things in these three verses.
A. A DEMAND
Look at 6a, we read, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.”
God’s Word not only encourage us to exercise faith, the Word of God list in Hebrews chapter 11 great men and women of the Old Testament the Bible reveals How God gave them the wisdom to overcome their difficulties in life.
Their faith did not waver in the slightest!!!
Why? Because nothing is going to happen when we pray in unbelief.
Many christians do not like to admit this, but they have given up on prayer. They have prayed many prayers and their prayers were not answered.
The problem is not that God does not answer prayer anymore, the problems is PRAYER IS THE KEY TO HEAVEN and they do not have the key to unlock the door.
Illus: This is why some:
• Run to everyone but God with their problems because they believe they care about them, but not God.
• Some do not bother to pray at all as they face the various crisis of life, they do not believe God will help them.
God has asked us to come to Him, but God has demanded that you come to Him in Faith. The Bible says without “Wavering.”
God’s DEMAND is that we come to him in FAITH.
B. A DECLARATION
Then we have a DECLARATION.
Look at verse 6-7 again, we read, “....For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. FOR LET NOT THAT MAN THINK THAT HE SHALL RECEIVE ANY THING OF THE LORD.”
There are many scriptures in the Bible that is difficult to understand. But God makes it as simple as He can make it when He states that if we come wavering, “FOR LET NOT THAT MAN THINK THAT HE SHALL RECEIVE ANY THING OF THE LORD.”
Yes, God still answer prayer, but faith unlocks the door.
Conclusion:
I. A POSSIBILITY
II. A PRAYER
III. A PROVISION
Note: If you would like to hear this sermon preached by Dr. Odell Belger type…YOUTUBE- LYKESLAND
