FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

Scripture Reference: John 16:24

“Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

One of the reasons why we can ask and not receive is because we ask in our own name. This would be similar to a child who asks his parent for something, but his asking is not based on need or the parent’s judgment and willingness to give. Instead, his asking is based selfishly upon one or two things he did to help around the house. Because of this, he now thinks he has the right to tell his parents exactly what he wants them to do, even how and when they should do it. If his parents truly love this child, will they respond to his selfish demands in the way and at the time that he wants it?

Understand that this doesn’t mean we can’t ask for our needs to be met, on the contrary God wants us to come to Him as He already has a plan for your needs. However, are you asking for self to be glorified or for God to be exalted in the answer? Are you asking, not to enjoy communion with the Father, but because like the child in the last paragraph, you expect it from Him at any price? We can ask in faith and believe that God will give us His best answer, whether it is exactly what we want. Praying in Christ’s name, means we are also asking for His perfect will in whatever the prayer may be.

One clear evidence of problems in Christians’ prayer lives is when we spend more time preparing to come to Christ than in actually coming to Him. Parents, what would you think of your child who had a need, but spent hours getting himself ready, thinking of how to say things in a perfect way, working up all the right feelings, showing all the right mannerisms, and then hoping, maybe, that you will be willing to hear him? Would this honor or insult you and your love for your child?

Praying in Christ’s name requires repudiating praying in our own name. It not only testifies of our status as sinners but also of Christ’s status as Savior—of our sin, and His grace! No wonder Scripture lovingly commands us to pray in the name of Christ.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: John 16:24

“Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Though often we frequently end our prayers with “for Jesus’ sake,” we often pray for our own sake. Although we condemn the doctrine of salvation by our own good works and believe in salvation by grace based upon Christ’s merits, this truth is often missing in a practical way in our daily prayer life.

We tend to think that when we have warm feelings, a lively sense of deep reverence, a feeling of heart humility, a close sense of God’s presence, or real earnestness for the Lord, that God will then hear our prayer. If we reason this way, on what foundation are we basing our judgment? Is it as it is so often with other aspects of our walk, based on feelings? Do we truly believe that God will hear our prayer for Jesus’ sake, or for ours? Do we think that God will be pleased, on the basis of our feelings, to give us what we have asked for? Do we believe that our prayers themselves deserve to be heard, answered, and rewarded by a perfect God, who can only be pleased by perfect righteousness? If so, we are denigrating the perfections of God—His divine attributes—to our own level and thereby insulting His holy, infinite Being.

Praying in the name of Christ is to not base my hope and expectation of being heard upon the merits of my “good” prayers. Rather, it is to pray putting all my trust in Jesus Christ’s merits and His intercession. Sometimes we feel that our prayers are so poor and lacking so much that we despair of an audience with the Lord. There can be so little persevering, thanking, and felt need in our prayers that we often conclude that God will never hear them. Reasoning like this displays a lack of praying “for Jesus’ sake.” It testifies of unbelief in God’s grace and love for undeserving sinners.

Jesus taught us, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name.” To pray in Christ’s name is to take refuge in Him as God’s beloved Son—the One whom the Father delights to hear and to honor. Praying in Jesus’ name includes confessing who is truly God and Master in my life. While we condemn praying to idols as being foolish, how many times do we not pray to the idol of self? We often bow our knees to our god of self. Satan tempted Jesus by saying, “Bow down and worship me.” Think of what a degrading insult this was to God! Our prayers can testify that we are looking to the god of self with the attitude that we are lord and master. We even dare to tell God to do our bidding. We act as though we are Lord and God is our servant. Have you ever felt guilty of this in your prayers and been arrested in prayer for your self-centered idolatry?

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 55:6-7

Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

From Last Lesson: Who understands that God has every right not to hear his prayer—the converted or unconverted? This type of argument, which sounds pious, is really an irreligious excuse and a perversion of the gospel message.

It is dangerous to believe, teach, or imply that we may not pray until we are whole or that we may approach God only when we are spiritually upright. Psalm 130:3-4 encourages the guilty who cannot stand before God to come to Him: “If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared.”

The gospel calls poor, lame, and blind sinners, those who are full of sin and putrefying spiritual sores, to come to Christ for healing—to Him who delights in showing mercy and love to miserable creatures. Luther once said, “Being saved is getting lost at Jesus’ feet.” Satan’s ultimate goal is to keep sinners from Jesus Christ. If he cannot accomplish this as a roaring lion, he will attempt to do so as an angel of light. If you are deeply concerned to know whether the genuine work of the Holy Spirit or the deceptive work of Satan is in your heart, test it by this scriptural key: the former draws you toward Christ while the latter strives to keep you from Christ.

We sin when we sing psalms, attend church, read Scripture, or pray and our heart is not right with God. But we sin doubly when our heart is not only sinful but we also neglect using God’s gift of prayer. We cannot deny man’s sinfulness, as revealed by God’s law; we are sinful, polluted, and an abomination in God’s sight. But we also must not deny God’s gospel; He delights to save sinners and encourages them to come to Him (John 6:37). Both these truths should not keep us from Jesus Christ, but direct us to Him, the only remedy for sin. The gospel should lead us to pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Please take away all the unrighteousness of self that fills me and fill me with all that I am missing—the righteousness of Jesus Christ.”

God spoke to the entire house of Israel, “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me . . .” (Ezekiel 36:37). “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” We are too sinful not to pray; sinners are the very people who need prayer. Remember, even though we are not of the world, we are still surrounded by its temptations and desires; we are in the center of it. Therefore, pray, always (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture Reference: Isaiah 55:6-7

Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

In Isaiah 55, God shows His compassion by inviting “everyone who thirsts” (Isaiah 55:1) to enter into His promised blessings. This thirst of deep spiritual longing drives us to Him for mercy; verses 6 and 7 emphasize the urgency of responding to Him. The verb seek suggests actively using God’s means of prayer. The One we seek is the Lord: the unchangeable, gracious, covenant-keeping Jehovah. We should not foolishly delay embracing God’s offer; we must seek Him “while He may be found”—now—before the day of our death. The prophet emphasizes personal prayer with the words “call upon Him,” reminding us that God’s offered salvation is available now, while “He is near” us with His Word and blessings. We must not reject this offer. If we do not heed the call, the time will come when He will not be found and we will be separated from Him forever. God requires us wholeheartedly to repent of our sinful thoughts, words, and actions, receiving by faith His abundant, pardoning mercy and grace, which far exceed the mountains of our great sin and guilt.

Some people argue that because they cannot pray rightly, it is better for them not to pray at all. They draw support from Scripture verses that describe the prayers and worship of sinners as a stench in God’s nostrils and an abomination in His sight. They say that God will not hear sinners and that whatever is not of faith is sin.

The first part of this argument—that we cannot pray rightly—is true, but the conclusion that it is then better not to pray at all is false. If such reasoning were valid, then we could draw similar conclusions about all sorts of spiritual activities. Can I read the Bible in the right way? If not, I had better not read it. Can I sing psalms and hymns in the right way? If not, I had better not sing them. Can I attend church in the right way? If not, I had better not go. This reasoning, if it were true, would actually keep believers from praying more than unbelievers, since believers feel their sinful infirmities more. Are the converted or the unconverted more acquainted with their unworthiness? Who truly recognizes what an abomination and offense he is to God? Who fully acknowledges that he is a sinner who lacks faith? Who understands that God has every right not to hear his prayer—the converted or unconverted? This type of argument, which sounds pious, is really an irreligious excuse and a perversion of the gospel message.

To Be Continued

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.