You Have To Have The Nerve To Ask Series

“You Have To Have The Nerve To Ask”

Text: John 16:23 - And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

Intro: Jesus tells us that whatsoever we ask the Father in His name, the Father will give it to us. Our heavenly Father wants us to ask. Not unlike a natural father wants his children to come to him for whatever they need. Our heavenly Father wants us to ask Him for anything we need. There is no prayer request too big to ask the Father. Your heavenly Father is waiting for you to ask because He’s waiting to do what you need Him to do. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. Where we see a problem, He sees potential for a miracle. Where we see an obstacle, He sees an opportunity to show Himself strong. Where we see an impossibility, God sees a chance to show that what is impossible with man is possible with Him. There is nothing that we can’t ask because there is nothing He can’t do. (Jeremiah 32:17)(Luke 1:37)(Ephesians 3:20-It’s not above what we can ask or think. It’s only above what we do ask or think.) The only thing that we can’t ask is what we can’t think and there is nothing we can’t think. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10- God reveals to us by His what He thinks so there’s nothing we can’t think and there is nothing we can’t ask!) We just have to have the nerve to ask! (Luke 11:1-13) Importunate – troublesomely urgent: overly persistent in request of demand. (Pressing, burning, clamant, clamorous, crying, imperative, insistent, instant, urgent). Importunity is not asking repeatedly. Importunity is having the nerve just to ask in the first place. In John 11:41-42, Jesus tells us that we don’t have to ask the Father repeatedly. He heard you the first time. You don’t have to pray the same prayers over and over again. “No” doesn’t mean ask again! If the answer was “No” the first time you asked, then the answer will not change because the Father does not change. Importunity is not asking repeatedly. It is having the nerve to ask initially. Importunity looks for opportunity to ask. Importunity has the guts, the gall, and the gump to ask what most people won’t ask. Importunity knows how to ask, seek, and knock.

1. Ask - Who you ask is your Father (John 16:23) (Matthew 6:9). How you ask is in the name of Jesus. Asking in the name of Jesus does not mean saying “in the name of Jesus” at the end of the prayer. “In the name of Jesus” means in His nature and in His representation. It means asking what Jesus would ask if He were asking. It means praying what Jesus what pray if He were praying. Jesus had no problem with praying for the blind to see, for the deaf to hear, for the lame to walk, for the dumb to talk, for the dead to rise again. Jesus had no problem with asking His Father for anything. Jesus knew how to ask. The way we ask in Jesus’ name is asking according to His word.

2. Seek – Look for it to come to pass. Look for it! Expect it! The bible calls it watching and praying (Matthew 26:41) (Mark 13:33) (Mark 14:38) (Luke 21:36). If you are not watching, you really didn’t pray. If you are not looking for the way God will perform His word, you really didn’t ask!

3. Knock – Just because the door is closed doesn’t mean it is locked. Just because it’s locked doesn’t mean it can’t be opened. We have to have the nerve to ask according to the word and seek for the way. We also have to knock according to the will. It is called the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. The good will of God is what He has done. (Gen 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, and 31). The acceptable will of God is what He wants us to do to line up with what He has done. The perfect will of God is for us to benefit from what He has done because we have done what He wanted us to do. The acceptable will of God is what you have to do to get the door to open. This is how we knock. Knocking is doing the practical to prepare for the providential. In the natural, if you walk up to a door and do not knock on the door, you really didn’t expect the door to be opened. If you don’t do the simple thing that will put you in position to receive what God has promised to give you, then you really never expected Him to give it to you. A good example is if we are praying for a better job. Asking according to the word is “Heavenly Father, I need a better job. I thank you for being the God that supplies all my need according to your riches in glory. Seeking is looking in the want ads, checking the internet, and going job hunting to look for the job that fits the description of what we asked the Father for. Knocking is filling out the application, going to the interview, showing up on time, dressing nicely, sitting up straight, and making eye contact during the interview. If we are not knocking according to the acceptable will of God, we really didn’t ask. Most people don’t know how to ask. Even fewer people have the nerve to ask. Our heavenly Father wants to supply our every need. We just have to have the nerve to ask.