04/18/2022
In our prayers today, are we asking God to do something for us? Are we asking Him to heal someone, to take care of a personal situation in our family, provide us with a better job, for more money, or any one of a million other daily needs? Well if these are righteous requests that are within God’s will, and we ask Him in the name of Jesus, He will act upon them. The question becomes this… are we committed to our belief in Him when He says He will do these things for us, do we trust Him enough to put whatever it is in His hands, and only do what He asks us to do? Are we within His will in what we have asked? Are we praying as Jesus?
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”
Psalm 37:5 ESV
The Israelites were thirsty as they made their way through the wilderness, and they quarreled with God for water to drink. God heard them, and told Moses to take his staff, stand before the rock, and command water to come forth, but instead, Moses became upset with the people and struck the rock twice with his staff. This was not what God had told him to do, and although the Lord provided water for the people, he also punished Moses for his lack of obedience…
“And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he showed himself holy.”
Numbers 20:12-13 ESV
Haven’t we all been guilty of something similar to this in our spiritual lives? Haven’t we asked the Lord for His provision only to go about seeking it ourselves as if we had never asked Him for it? Have we ever become impatient while waiting on Him to answer us, and then taken a matter back into our own hands? In such cases the Lord will often step back and let nature take its course, whatever will be will come to be. When we do this one of a few scenarios might unfold; He might just allow us to fail, we might actually succeed by our own actions but it will not be in God’s will or with His blessing, He might step in and do the thing anyway like He did in the story of Moses and the water, or perhaps He will lead us to that place where we finally learn to ask and trust him as we should. Let’s each think back on a time when our prayer wasn’t answered as we thought it should be, and ask ourselves honestly about our trust, our faith, and our patience in those times. Were we praying in God’s Will, in perfect trust, with patience, and thus able to pray as Jesus would? In this way were we able to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus… calling on His authority?
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”
John 14:13-14 ESV
Praying in the name of Jesus means more than just saying His name; it means to ask a thing as His emissary, to ask something by His authority. It is to pray in His stead, and our words are meant to be as if they were His. Is this what we do when we conclude our prayers by saying “In the name of Jesus, Amen”? Are these just words we repeat, or are they placing the holy seal of Jesus Christ on what we have just said? Are we guaranteeing that the message we have just delivered is from Jesus?
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”
James 4:3 ESV
So let’s contemplate our prayers today and understand how it is that we are meant to pray, and then wait on the Lord. Let’s align ourselves with God’s will just as Jesus does, and speak only as Jesus leads us to speak. Let’s demonstrate enough faith, and trust, in God, that we are able to give Him our desires and then allow Him to deliver them. Let’s only do those things to help that He tells us to do. Let’s speak with the authority that the name of Jesus gives us. Are we able to do this?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for hearing our prayers and answering them according to your will. Thank you Lord for your son Jesus who intercedes for us before you, and in whose name we bring our requests to you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who hears our prayers, and honors whatever we ask in the name of your Son Jesus. Praised be your name for every prayer you answer, and for allowing us the authority needed to make our requests known to you in the name of your son Jesus. Merciful are you in your provision, and perfect is your grace that takes the desires of humble men and gives them divine power. Wash us clean in the blood of Christ, and forgive us our sins through Him. Cleanse us Father, and see only the purity of Jesus as we stand before you. Let our prayers be pleasing to you and rise up with the precious smoke of incense before your throne. On the day of our judgement we pray that our name will be recorded in the Lamb’s book of life, and that we will be seated at your table forevermore.
Rich Forbes