Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Does Asking And Receiving Mean Naming And Claiming?




Everyone who asks receives… —Luke 11:10

“Ask if you have not received. There is nothing more difficult than asking. We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at the limit of desperation will we ask. It is the sense of not being spiritually real that causes us to ask. Have you ever asked out of the depths of your total insufficiency and poverty? “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God…” (James 1:5), but be sure that you do lack wisdom before you ask. You cannot bring yourself to the point of spiritual reality anytime you choose. The best thing to do, once you realize you are not spiritually real, is to ask God for the Holy Spirit, basing your request on the promise of Jesus Christ (see Luke 11:13). The Holy Spirit is the one who makes everything that Jesus did for you real in your life.” CHAMBERS

This idea of asking and receiving has been a stumbling block for many.  Does the Bible really say that God will give me whatever I ask for, if I only believe enough?  It is that thinking that gave birth to “name it and claim it”.  Health and wealth.  As if that is the essence of who we are in Christ.  And if you are not healthy and not wealthy then you are not right spiritually.  If the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about asking and receiving has to do with personal comfort .. alleviation of some problem that you are facing … in my thinking … that merely confirms what the Bible says … our old nature is preoccupied with what satisfies the flesh, the eyes and our pride.  (1 John 2:16) Our faith can become a means to satisfy those desires and not to crucify them.



Am I hedging on bringing understanding to what Luke 11:10 means?  I don’t think so.  I want to bring context to it. You see, the question is motive . .having a pure heart when we approach God … loving Him with all our heart … pushing out anything that would set itself up as more important than our trust in Him.  Does that mean that God will not answer prayers .. no of course not … what it means is that when we approach God with a pure heart … whatever God’s answer is will satisfy us.  Let me put it another way … Ask and you will receive an answer from God … Whatever that answer is … it will be the right one … the question is, will you accept it?  ELGIN

Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)

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