Whatever you ask in My name,
that I will do… —John 14:13
“Am I fulfilling this
ministry of intercession deep within the hidden recesses of my life? […] It is
a hidden ministry that brings forth fruit through which the Father is
glorified. […] Is Jesus Christ more and more dominating every interest of my
life? […] “If you abide in Me…”— that is, if you continue to act, and think,
and work from that central point— “you will ask what you desire, and it shall
be done for you” (John 15:7). […] … what ought to exert the greatest power in
my life is the atonement of the Lord. It is not on what we spend the greatest
amount of time that molds us the most, but whatever exerts the most power over
us. […] “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do….” The disciple who abides
in Jesus is the will of God, and what appears to be his free choices are
actually God’s foreordained decrees. Is this mysterious? Does it appear to
contradict sound logic or seem totally absurd? Yes, but what a glorious truth
it is to a saint of God.” CHAMBERS
There was and perhaps still
is a movement, actually a heresy, that taught Christians can “name it and claim
it”. Whatever you ask for God will give
it. It doesn’t matter what the motivation
of you asking. In fact, if you don’t get
it, it is because you lack faith. But
that is the heretical part. Name it and
claim it is actually a veiled effort for people to embrace the love of money
and possessions in the name of God’s Word as the justification. If our God-given goal is to be more like
Jesus, what should my life look like?
Should I be busy “feathering” my nest?
Ensuring that I am comfortable, my future is secure because my nest egg
is the size of an Ostrich egg, not a chicken egg? Should I be asking God for more than I have because
I believe that by having more it will mean that God is blessing me? (Luke
12:16-21) “And he [Jesus] told them this parable: “The ground of a certain
rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do?
I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I
will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my
surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for
many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him,
‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will
get what you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be with whoever
stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”” The question is not how much you have, but
what you are prepared to do with what you have?
I know some people who are very well to do financially, who love God and
are very generous in their giving. It
doesn’t matter to God how much money you have.
What matters to God is how much of God you have, in your heart. If the love of things, maybe your personal
comfort or bank account has edged God out, do you really think that God is
pleased with you?
Psalm 37:4
says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your
heart”. I believe that means as I seek God, He will change my heart to desire
what He desires. And what is that? Micah 6:8
answers that question. “He has told you,
O man, what is good; and what does the
Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with your God?” Does that sound consistent
with the thinking that if I am a Christian, if I ask God for anything, He will
give it to me? I think not. James wrote this (James 4:3) “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to
spend it on your passions.” Think about
what you pray for? Think about what you
are doing with what God has already given you.
Money is not the measure that God uses, it is the measure that man
uses. Think about it. CHARLEY
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