Now that we had a look at how Jesus said we should pray, lets talk about what we should be asking for in our prays. For that we’ll go to the book of John.
John 14:12-17
12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My Father.
13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it.
Some think this means we can ask for any thing in His name and it will happen, that’s not true. Jesus is talking about His works. How will asking for a fancy car help you do works like Jesus? What this is telling us is to ask for things that will help us do works like Jesus did. Ask for things that will help you do our Father’s will and glorify Him, not ourselves. One good place to start is asking for understanding is His word, something I do every time I work on a study.
15 If ye love Me, keep My commandments.
If we love Jesus we need to keep His laws and follow the example that He set for us.
16 And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
As it says in verse 26 of this same chapter, the Comforter is the Holy Spirit. God will send us His Holy Spirit and we will never be alone. Not a bad deal, seeing how so many people feel they are alone now a days. Pray to God and ask Him for the Comforter in Jesus name and you will never be alone again. The Comforter will also help us to better understand our Father’s Word, something that should be a desire of all Christians.
What if our prayers are not answered right away, then what should we do? Jesus gives us an example and teaches us what to do in Luke.
Luke 11:5-13
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Many would travel at night because of the heat. Three loaves of bread was a big deal back then. They could not go to the local store that was open 24 hours a day and buy bread, they had to make it from scratch themselves.
7 And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.
It was late, he was sleeping and did not want to be bothered. Sometimes back then a whole family would sleep in one room in the clothes they wore that day in one big bed.
8 I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.
He was persistent in the way he kept asking and asking. He had perseverance and kept asking till he got what he wanted. Our Father wants us to have perseverance in our prayers to Him. If you want to do something that will glorify our Father and don’t get it the first time, ask again. I believe that we should ask up to three times like Jesus and Paul did. If you asked three times and still did not get what you wanted, forget about it and don’t worry about it. If God wants you to have it, you will get it. If you worry about it, that is a lack of faith and we cannot please God without faith. Sometimes what we think is a good idea, might not be what God has planed for us.
9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Ask-seek-knock is a figure of speech, it is an increase of emphasis. It means to keep on trying. The more you want it, the more zealous you will be trying to get it. Ask for understanding in God’s word. Our Father’s word grows in our mind and when you come across something you don’t understand, that’s when you have to start knocking. Ask to be given, not done. Don’t start telling God what to do, He doesn’t like that.
11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
12 Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him
Our Father loves us very much and wants to bless His children that are pleasing Him. He knows intuitively what we need but sometimes we need to ask first. A good place to start is asking for the Holy Spirit to be in your life and understanding in His word.
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