I’d like to begin this morning by giving something away. It’s a $20 gift certificate for Applebee’s, and it’s available to anyone who wants it. [Hold out the $20 bill and wait until someone comes up and takes it]
What did you have to do to receive the gift certificate?
* Believe the gift certificate was real (that I had the power to grant the offer)
* Believe the offer was real (that I genuinely intended to give it away to whoever wanted it)
* Exercise faith and ask for it.
Prayer is like that. The difference is that I was offering something relatively trivial. And I only had one. But God’s riches are far more valuable and they are inexhaustible. Wouldn’t you like to know how to tap into the vast riches and resources that God has made available to us?
This morning I’d like to continue our series on WestShore’s Core Values as we look at the core value of "Commitment to Prayer - Acting on the conviction that God hears and answers prayer."
How do we receive God’s blessings? 1. We ask.
"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; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." -- Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV)
"You do not have, because you do not ask God." - James 4:2 (NIV)
People will do all kind of things to gain God’s favor ando receive His blessings, especially when they are in great need or in extreme danger ["God, I’ll do anything if you’ll just ____"].
Ironically, while people are often willing to do great things in return for God’s blessing, things God has not asked for and does not want; they are unwilling to do the one small thing that He actually requires (which is to pray). [Illustration: 2 Kings 5:9-14]. Why? Because they want to earn it. They think they can earn it. They’re operating on a merit basis, not a grace basis. The problem is that they’re using the wrong country’s "currency". The currency of this world is works, merit, getting what you deserve. The currency of God’s kingdom is grace. [It’s like going to some South Sea Island where the economic system is based on barter and livestock, and trying to buy things with green pieces of paper. They would laugh at you. And then eat you.]
In reality, it insults God when we try to pay for His blessings with our works. First, because it makes His relationship with us one of economics, rather than love [Like trying to "pay" for dinner at friend’s house]. Second, because what we have to offer is so pitifully small that it devalues His blessings.
People are willing to anything except what God asks, because His way requires humility. It requires an acknowledgement that we are dependent on God, that we are indebted to Him, obligated to Him; that we can never repay Him for His blessings to us. It’s like people who refuse to let you give them anything without giving you something equivalent back. Everything has to be a "quid pro quo," so they never feel obligated to anyone.
So they bargain with God, make sacrifices, give money, etc. etc. But they refuse to do the one small thing that God requires. In reality, that one small thing is the biggest, most difficult thing that God could possibly ask of them. Because it requires them to humble themselves and come to God, hat in hand, asking His mercy and grace. And their pride just cannot permit them to do that.
People sometimes don’t ask because they think that God already knows what they need, so why bother? This misses the point. The purpose of prayer is not just for us to get what we want. What matters most is our relationship with God. The purpose of prayer is for us to be blessed by God in such a way that He is honored and glorified, and we grow spiritually.
God is not honored when people enjoy His blessings and give Him no credit. Or worse, when they give the credit to someone else - such as themselves, or luck, or chance. Prayer reminds us that all the good things we enjoy, and the good things we seek, all must ultimately come from God. There is no other source for good things.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." - James 1:17 (NIV)
But when we pray, and God answers our prayers, He receives the glory, and we grow in faith, hope, and love. That’s the point. Not just getting what we want.
How do we receive God’s blessings? 2. We ask in faith.
"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
- James 1:6-8 (NIV)
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
- Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)
We cannot come to God with an attitude of, "Well, I’ll try praying to God, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try something else." That isn’t faith. That’s just covering your bases. God is not willing to be just one option among many. He will not be satisfied with a piece of our love, a piece of our devotion, a piece of our trust. He wants all of it. He claims His rightful place at the center of our lives. He demands that we trust in Him, and Him alone.
God is not willing to be put on the shelf with all of the other deities, to be installed as part of our personal pantheon of gods. [I’ll try praying to God to meet my needs, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try a little Zen Buddhism, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll try wealth and power, then meditation, then Wicca, then pleasure, then self-actualization, then etc.]. It’s like asking five women to marry you, and then waiting to see which one says, "yes." It’s an insult. On the contrary, we must place our faith and trust in God alone, with no backup and no contingency plan.
The key to answered prayer is not the amount or strength of our faith, but the object of our faith.
"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ’Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." - Matthew 17:20 (NIV)
The power doesn’t come from our faith; the power comes from the One in whom we have faith.
How do we receive God’s blessings? 3. We ask in Jesus’ name.
Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. - John 16:24 (NIV)
What does it mean to ask in "Jesus’ name"? Does it mean that we tack those words on to the end of our prayers, like some kind of magical formula or incantation? No. To ask in Jesus’ name is to come to God on the basis of His worthiness and His righteousness rather than our own. It is a recognition that the grounds of our acceptance before God, the reason that He is willing to hear and answer our prayers, is this: that the separation between us and God caused by our sin has been bridged by Christ. He paid the price of death for our sins, our guilt was transferred to Him and His perfect righteousness was transferred to us. As a result, we are no longer excluded from God’s presence, but instead He welcomes us. We come to Him, not on the basis of our own merit or worth, but clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Conclusion: Are you asking? Are you trusting? Can you come to God in Jesus’ name?
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)
